New EU-wide requirements for information about the legal guarantee when selling goods to consumers have applied since 27 September 2026. Online stores must make the harmonised EU notice available correctly during the sales process. What matters is how it is actually presented before the contract is concluded.
What is new?
The legal guarantee itself is not new. What is new is the standardised notice retailers use to inform customers about these rights. It explains the main elements of the legal guarantee and helps distinguish it from voluntary commercial guarantees.
The EU specifies the design and content. Use the official template in the appropriate language. Its elements must not be rewritten or redesigned; the colour version is required online.
Who is affected?
The notice concerns retailers selling goods to consumers in the EU. In e-commerce, it is relevant regardless of the store platform: Shopify, WooCommerce, Lightspeed and other systems alike.
The national rules applicable to your target markets and product range should be reviewed separately by a legal professional. This article focuses on the technical checks within the store.
What should store owners check now?
Adding a legal text does not, by itself, establish whether customers see the notice in time. Check the actual purchasing journey:
- Template: Is the official EU notice included, unchanged and in the correct language?
- Placement: Is it made available prominently before the contract is concluded? A hard-to-find footer link may not be sufficient.
- Display: Is the colour version fully legible on mobile and desktop? Do apps, consent elements or theme components obscure it?
- Purchase routes: Check product pages, the cart and checkout, as well as alternative ordering routes. These are technical test points, not a blanket requirement to repeat the notice on every one of these pages.
- Changes: Document placement and testing. After theme, app and checkout updates, check again that the implementation works.
The European Commission gives a general reminder on the website as one example for e-commerce. The specific placement must be assessed for each store and its relevant target markets.
Legal guarantee notice and GARAN label: what is the difference?
The harmonised notice explains the legal guarantee. The GARAN label, by contrast, identifies certain commercial guarantees of durability offered by manufacturers. It is not a general labelling requirement for every product.
The retailer’s information obligation depends on the manufacturer providing a durability guarantee at no additional cost, covering the entire product, lasting longer than two years, and making this information available to the retailer. In these cases, the retailer must prominently provide the prescribed GARAN label for the goods concerned. Additional requirements apply to information immediately before an electronic order is placed.
A guarantee covering only individual parts, or lasting no more than two years, does not meet these conditions. A voluntary guarantee also does not replace the legal guarantee. Review guarantee terms and manufacturer information separately from the general legal guarantee notice.
How Lightport supports the technical implementation
Lightport checks how the notice is integrated and displayed in your existing store system. We help implement the official template, review relevant purchase routes and language versions, and test the presentation on mobile and desktop.
For products with the relevant manufacturer guarantees, we can also review the technical data and display of the GARAN label. Legal assessment of target markets, products and guarantee terms remains the responsibility of qualified legal advisers.
Have your store’s technical implementation checked
Would you like to know how the new legal guarantee information appears in your store and which technical adjustments make sense?
Book a free initial consultation with Lightport.
Please note: Lightport provides technical review and implementation within the store system. This article does not constitute legal advice.
