If you’re looking to start an eCommerce business with an eCommerce website builder, one of the many things it must include is an easy-to-understand privacy policy.
However, your privacy policy cannot be a carbon copy of another companys. It must be unique, written for your specific business rules, regulations, and guidelines. More importantly, this privacy policy must be current. In this article you’ll find instructions for how to create an eCommerce privacy policy, what to include inside of it, and some of the best policy templates out there on the market.
Keep reading to learn more!
What is an eCommerce Privacy Policy?
A privacy policy is a detailed outline of your business methods; it is not exclusive to the types of e commerce services you offer. This can include but is not limited to, your procedures for collecting, storing, using, and sharing your customers personal information online.
Any information you collect from your customers directly, like forms, browser clicks, and ad interactions must be outlined in your privacy policy too. Just make sure you have an eCommerce business license first!
It is imperative that you fully understand the broadness of the term “personal information.” As misuse of personal information online can easily spell legal troubles for your business. And you, nor I, want that. Westlaw defines personal information as “information that can be used to identify, locate, or contact an individual, alone or when combined with other personal or identifiable information.”
In fact, the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has a freely issued directive outlining how online businesses should store personal information online. Furthermore, the OMB lists a much wider defined definition of personal information that has to be protected as well. Any online business can unknowingly collect any number of customers' personal information. Therefore, it is important to understand the types that exist.
The type of business you operate will usually tell you the kinds of personal information you’ll be collecting when a customer visits your site. You may be collecting one, or more than of, of the following private information:
- Customer first and last name
- Gender
- Date of Birth
- Mailing or permanent address
- Email Address
- Phone number
- Employment history
- Educational history
- Credit card information
- Website cookies
- Social media accounts
- Customer support data
Finally, when you begin to build your eCommerce website keep in mind that when collecting customer information you have to give your customer the option to provide or decline to provide their personal information. More importantly, they should also have the opportunity to change their mind at any point during their online shopping experience.
What should I include in my Privacy Policy?
Including an eCommerce privacy policy is the number one way to reduce your business liability in the event of a data breach or leak–which can happen to anyone. Moreover, including this policy ensures that your business is in compliance with your state, local, and federal data guidelines.
Simply including a privacy policy on your site is not enough. There is a basic standard of information that should be included in your policy. Every policy should be comprehensive and written with easy–to-understand jargon. Therefore, regardless of who reads the policy they’ll be able to understand your policy and their rights as a customer in full.
Here is the bare minimum that your policy should include:
- The information you will collect both directly and indirectly from your customers via your eCommerce store.
- Any information you might potentially collect from your customers in the future.
- How and what technologies you will use to collect, manage, and store customer data.
- Potential ways you might use this data in the future.
- The ways that third party tools like analytic software and ads on your site will use your customers data.
Every eCommerce privacy policy needs to include itemized lists of the data your site collects from them. The more information you include in your privacy policy the better. This will ensure that there are no unanswered questions left on the table, and your customers are in “the know.”
Finally, to qualify your privacy policy as being “good” it’ll also need to inform your shoppers of the risk they might be taking when they opt into sharing their private information with you. Again, every customer needs to have the option to provide or refuse to provide their information. However, in the instance that they choose to provide it, they need to be informed of the risks.
Third-party cookies collect information indirectly from your site. So, your customers will need the option to decline or accept the use of them when they first click on your site. This option is usually provided in the form of a pop-up at the top or bottom of your site.
Why Privacy Policies are required for eCommerce Stores
If you live and conduct business in the United States, privacy policies are a requirement for online stores. In fact, most countries worldwide require one as well. Your customers' private information like names, address, and phone numbers are considered to be sensitive information. Therefore, it needs to be protected as such.
You wouldn't want just anyone having access to your home address; and there are a million reasons as to why that is true. Your customers are no different. They deserve to know that if they choose to share their information with you, it is going to be protected.
If you’d like to learn more about the nature of personal information shared online, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has an online guide detailing all 50 states' privacy laws. In the guide you will find specific state laws on policy, browsing information, how to market to minors (they will require extra privacy protection), and other relevant privacy issues you’ll need to be aware of.
If you reside in the state of California it is good to know that you have your own privacy protection act that went into effect in 2003. Knowingly, you’ll need to structure your eCommerce privacy policy in a different way.
How to create an eCommerce Privacy Policy?
As with any other aspect of an eCommerce business you’ll want to have an eCommerce marketing strategy to guide you when creating your eCommerce privacy policy.
Here are four goals you should accomplish when crafting your policy:
- Adequately informing customers/visitors of the data that you will collect, and how it will be managed should they choose to provide it.
- Every customer should have the option to opt in or out of providing their information; also allow them the ability to change their mind at a later time.
- Ensure your visitors have access to the information that you and your third-party tools collect.
- Provide a detailed explanation of your business efforts to keep their data secure.
In general, most privacy policies are included in the footer section of their website, along with the “about us” and “contact us” forms.
Because the privacy policy is arguably one of the most important features of your website, it should always be included in the same section as other important links on your website. This way your customers have everything they need in one convenient section. Another good rule of thumb is to include the email or newsletter sign-up form in the same area as the privacy policy too. Collecting emails is a way for companies to decrease their abandoned cart recovery rate. According to statistics, this is a great way to increase user-engagement on your site.
However, the best way to make sure you have everything you need in your policy is to use a free eCommerce privacy policy template generator. Below, we’ll list some of our favorites. We are positive you’ll find them beneficial as well.
The best free eCommerce Privacy Policy Template Generators:
- TermsFeed: This is one of the best options out there that allows you to create a fully customized policy with ease. In addition to creating your privacy policy, you can also utilize TermsFeed to create your site terms & conditions, return & refund policy, and cookies policy–all important website features.
- PrivacyPolicies.com: This site is another well-known and popular choice. It does require a small nominal one-time fee. However, this is because they offer users the ability to fully create detailed templates. Once you start creating your template this site will begin to make adjustments that reflect your unique business needs.
- Get Terms: If you’re looking for a more simple and basic option, then Get Terms is right for you! It allows you to display a simple policy by entering information in field displays for free.
That’s all, private!
Creating a privacy policy for your eCommerce website can certainly appear to be a daunting task. There are lots of rules, regulations, and things to consider when creating one. Understandably, you want to ensure your business and your customers are properly protected. We fully understand your concerns, and you should know you aren’t alone.
Privacy policies help consumers feel secure, especially during the data capture and payment process. Whether consumers choose ACH payment or another standard form of payment, they want to know their information is secure.
We always recommend using privacy policy generators that are tried, true, and tested to ensure your policy includes everything you need. Also, choosing the right eCommerce hosting platform is a critical step in this process. The right platform will allow you to customize your website according to your customers needs.
If you’d like to learn how to build an eCommerce website, or how to create an eCommerce business model, check out our blogs! They are full of information that is meant to help you become successful in this saturated market. If you work in the food and beverage industry, we recommend that you request a demo to learn more about how BlueCart can help you.
Frequently Asked Questions About eCommerce Privacy Policy Templates
Does My Website Need a Privacy Policy?
If you run an eCommerce business you are required to have a privacy policy on-site. Your policy will explain your customer's rights and is vital to ensure you're protected in case of legal issues.
Can I Write my Own eCommerce Privacy Policy?
Yes, however, there is a lot to understand about privacy policies. It's best you do your research beforehand to understand everything you'll need to include.
What is a Privacy Policy?
A privacy policy is a statement that explains how a company collects, handles, stores, and shares. More than this, it protects customer's personal and often sensitive information gathered through their interactions with a website