Shoplex – EU Compliance for WooCommerce

Description

Selling to consumers in the European Union requires specific information across the product page, the shopping cart, the checkout flow, and post-purchase order management. Requirements differ across EU member states: German courts mandate specific button labels under the Button-Lösung rule, French law penalizes missing payment warnings, Spanish law requires a three-year statutory warranty rather than the standard two-year period, and packaging laws require specific register numbers (LUCID in Germany, EPR in France, BDO in Poland).

Shoplex implements these legal requirements as seventeen distinct, independent modules. Each module can be switched on or off individually under WooCommerce > Shoplex. The administration interface explicitly references the corresponding EU directive or national statute for each requirement.

The Seventeen Modules

1. Unit Price (Price per Reference Unit)
   Directive 98/6/EC requires showing the price per standard unit (such as per kilogram, 100 grams, litre, or metre) alongside the final selling price for packaged goods sold by weight or volume. Shoplex calculates this ratio automatically from the product’s net content and chosen reference unit. Works across simple and variable products, and supports archive catalogue loops.

2. Lowest Price in the Last 30 Days (Omnibus Directive)
   Directive 2019/2161 (the Enforcement and Modernisation Directive, commonly called Omnibus) dictates that any price reduction announcement must state the lowest price applied during a period of at least 30 days prior to the reduction. Shoplex maintains a local database log of every price update across regular, sale, and variation prices. Unscheduled sales calculate against historical records, and daily scheduled cleanup retains the window without deleting the active base price.

3. VAT Notice (Tax Display Indication)
   Directive 98/6/EC and Directive 2011/83/EU require informing the consumer whether the price includes applicable VAT. Shoplex prints the rate applied to each product (e.g. “incl. 19% VAT” or “excl. VAT” for net display). For merchants qualifying for the small business scheme (Article 284 of Directive 2006/112/EC, such as § 19 UStG in Germany), a dedicated exemption notice replaces standard tax percentages.

4. Shipping Costs Notice & PAngV Link
   Directive 2011/83/EU art. 6(1)(e) requires that when shipping costs cannot be calculated in advance, the fact that such costs are payable must be stated. Under the German Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV § 6), the words “plus shipping” (“zzgl. Versandkosten”) must provide a direct hyperlink to the merchant’s payment and shipping conditions page rather than a generic catalogue archive. Shoplex allows designating a specific shipping page or falls back cleanly to the shop’s legal terms page.

5. From-Price for Variable Products
   Directive 98/6/EC restricts deceptive price ranges. When product variants carry different prices, displaying wide ranges (“€10.00 – €90.00”) can mislead buyers regarding initial availability. Shoplex replaces ranges with a clean “from €10.00” label reflecting the lowest currently purchasable variation.

6. Delivery Time Indication
   Directive 2011/83/EU art. 6(1)(g) mandates providing the arrangements for payment, delivery, and performance, including the time by which the trader undertakes to deliver the goods. In countries like Germany, vague estimates like “promptly” or “usually within a few days” are legally non-compliant. Shoplex registers a dedicated delivery time taxonomy allowing unified terms (“2 – 4 business days”, “ready to ship in 24h”) applied per product, per variation, or shop-wide.

7. Legal Guarantee of Conformity and Durability
   Directive (EU) 2019/771 on consumer sales of goods and Directive (EU) 2019/770 on digital content require informing consumers of their statutory conformity guarantee. For Spain, where Real Decreto-ley 7/2021 amended the LGDCU to require a 3-year statutory warranty (36 months) starting January 1, 2022, Shoplex automatically provides the 3-year warranty statement when resolving customers in Spain. Also supports displaying commercial guarantees of durability, digital software update periods, and repair information.

8. Country-Specific EU Rules (Button-Lösung & Packaging Registers)
   National transpositions of Article 8(2) of the Consumer Rights Directive require the order confirmation button to be clearly labelled with an unambiguous statement indicating that placing the order entails an obligation to pay:

– Germany & Austria (§ 312j Abs. 3 BGB / § 8 FAGG): Zahlungspflichtig bestellen
– France (Art. L. 221-14 Code de la consommation): Commande avec obligation de paiement
– Italy (Art. 51 comma 2 Codice del Consumo): Ordina e paga
– Spain (Art. 98.2 LGDCU): Pedido con obligación de pago
– Poland (Art. 17 ust. 3 Ustawy o prawach konsumenta): Zamówienie z obowiązkiem zapłaty
Works on both the classic checkout and the WooCommerce Block Checkout via client-side registration filters. Also displays packaging and environmental registry numbers (LUCID register number for Germany under VerpackG, Identifiant Unique REP / EPR for France under AGEC, and Numer BDO for Poland under the Waste Act).

1. 14-Day Statutory Right of Withdrawal
   Directive 2011/83/EU Annex I(B) guarantees consumers a 14-day cancellation window. Shoplex provides an out-of-the-box workflow:

– Public shortcode [shoplex_withdrawal_form] allowing guest lookups with anti-enumeration protection and rate limiting.
– Secure single-use magic links sent directly to the customer’s billing email with a 30-minute expiry.
– Authenticated declaration form listing remaining withdrawable items with clamped quantities to prevent returning more units than ordered.
– Direct High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) metadata storage (_shoplex_withdrawals), audit trails in WooCommerce order notes, and automated confirmation emails to both customer and store administrator.

1. General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)
   Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), in effect since December 13, 2024, requires online listings to publish manufacturer identity details, postal address, electronic address, the EU responsible person (for manufacturers outside the EU), and required safety warnings or instructions. Shoplex provides dedicated per-product and default fields for all required GPSR disclosures.

2. Checkout Consents & Consent Recording
   Directive 2011/83/EU art. 8 and GDPR art. 7 demand unambiguous, affirmative agreement for specific contractual conditions, particularly waiving withdrawal rights for immediate access to digital downloads. Shoplex renders terms, privacy policy, right of withdrawal acknowledgment, digital content waivers, newsletter consents, and carrier delivery updates. Each recorded consent captures the verbatim text displayed, the customer decision, and the exact timestamp stored in HPOS order meta. Compatible with classic and block checkouts.

3. Trader Identity (Impressum / Legal Notice)
   Directive 2000/31/EC art. 5 and national legislation (such as § 5 DDG in Germany) require commercial websites to provide permanent, immediate access to commercial registry numbers, corporate entity names, physical addresses, electronic mail, telephone contact, and VAT identification numbers. Shoplex renders these through the [shoplex_business_info] shortcode or the native block.

4. Dispute Resolution (ODR Notice)
   Regulation (EU) 524/2013 and Directive 2013/11/EU require e-commerce platforms to link to consumer alternative dispute resolution bodies. Shoplex provides the statutory notice for inclusion in store footers or legal pages.

5. Intra-EU B2B VAT Validation (VIES REST API)
   Under Directive 2006/112/EC art. 138, exempting cross-border intra-EU B2B supplies at 0% VAT requires verifying that the customer is a taxable person with a valid VAT number in another member state. Shoplex queries the European Commission’s official VIES REST endpoint in real time across all 27 member states and Northern Ireland (XI). When configured with your own VAT ID, it performs a qualified check and stores the official consultation number (requestIdentifier) directly in the order meta and order notes as audit-proof evidence for tax authorities.

6. Statutory Complaint Form Template (Formularz Reklamacyjny)
   Under Directive (EU) 2019/771, consumers are entitled to remedies (repair, replacement, price reduction, contract termination) for non-conforming goods. Shoplex provides a ready-to-print or embed complaint form via shortcode [shoplex_complaint_template] and an administrative preview with one-click standalone HTML download, automatically populated with the merchant’s company details.

7. Cyber Resilience Act Disclosure (CRA / RFC 9116 security.txt)
   In alignment with European cybersecurity standards and the Cyber Resilience Act (Regulation EU 2024/2847), Shoplex serves a standard security disclosure policy at /.well-known/security.txt (RFC 9116). Merchandisers can specify their designated security contact email, vulnerability disclosure policy URL, and expiration date.

8. Digital Services Act Notice & Action Mechanism (DSA Reporting)
   Under Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), online intermediaries and shops must provide an easily accessible mechanism for individuals and entities to notify them of illegal content or non-compliant products. Shoplex provides the public notice form via [shoplex_dsa_report] with structured reason selection, validation, rate limiting, and instant email dispatch to store administrators.

Multilingual and Translation Compatibility

Shoplex includes comprehensive multilingual support:
* WPML & Polylang: Includes an official wpml-config.xml mapping configuration keys from shoplex_* options directly into string translation tables.
* TranslatePress & Loco Translate: Built with standard gettext functions across all frontend templates, notices, and checkout buttons.
* Autonomous Resolution: Destination country rules resolve based on billing address, shipping address, or geolocation independently of the front-end language chosen by the buyer.

Technical Architecture

• HPOS Native: Full support for WooCommerce High-Performance Order Storage (Custom Order Tables).
• Block Checkout Compatible: Integrates with WooCommerce Cart and Checkout Blocks via Store API and Blocks JavaScript filter registries.
• Zero External Dependencies: Runs locally on your server. No calls home, no API keys, and no monthly service fees.
• Minimal Overhead: Built without heavy JavaScript frameworks or unnecessary database tables.