Does my online shop need a withdrawal button?
Yes, if you sell online to consumers. Since June 2026 a customer must be able to withdraw from their order on your site itself, with a clearly visible button such as “withdraw from contract here”, throughout the withdrawal period. A page explaining the right, or a form to email, is not enough: those may stay, but the button comes on top.
Art. 11a Directive 2011/83/EU
Checked at the source on 1 October 2026.
Who it applies to
Every trader who concludes distance contracts with consumers through a website or app, where a right of withdrawal applies. There is no lower limit: a sole trader with an online shop too. Where no right of withdrawal applies, such as for made-to-measure goods or perishables, there is nothing to withdraw from for that order. The Dutch government alone estimated that almost a hundred thousand traders had to adapt their site.
What the law asks
Art. 11a(1) Directive 2011/83/EU
For distance contracts concluded through an online interface, the consumer must also be able to withdraw by using a withdrawal function. It is labelled, in an easily legible way, “withdraw from contract here” or an unambiguous corresponding formulation. It is continuously available throughout the withdrawal period, prominently displayed and easily accessible.
Art. 11a(2) and (3)
The function lets the consumer send an online withdrawal statement with their name, the details of the contract and how they want to receive the confirmation. They then submit it with a confirmation function labelled “confirm withdrawal” or an unambiguous equivalent, so that nobody withdraws by accident.
Art. 11a(4) and (5)
You acknowledge receipt without undue delay on a durable medium, such as an email, with its content and the date and time it was submitted. A statement submitted before the withdrawal period ends is on time.
Art. 6(1)(h) and 10
Before the order you tell the consumer that the function exists and where it is. That is now part of the information on the right of withdrawal, and if that information is missing, the withdrawal period is extended by up to twelve months.
National law
Directive (EU) 2023/2673 introduced the button across the EU from 19 June 2026. The Netherlands put it in article 6:230oa of the Civil Code, in force since 25 June 2026; Germany in § 356a BGB, in force since 19 June 2026.
Check it yourself, in five minutes
- Open your site in a private window, without logging in, and look in the menu and the footer: is there a button or link such as “withdraw from contract here”?
- Click it. Can you, as a customer without an account, fill in your name, an order number and an email address?
- Is there a second button to confirm, and do you then get an email straight away with what you submitted and when?
- Check that your terms or your returns page mention the button and say where it is.
- If the button is only on the thank-you page or in the confirmation email, put it on the site itself as well.
What our scan sees
- Whether the pages we looked at have a button or link with words such as “withdraw from contract” or “cancel contract”, or a link to a page made for it.
- On which page we found it, and with which words.
- For this we also specifically fetch your returns, terms and contact pages.
What our scan does not see
- A button that is only in the customer account or in a confirmation email: we do not log in and do not order anything.
- Whether the form works, whether the confirmation is sent, and whether the button stays there throughout the withdrawal period.
- Whether the button stands out clearly enough, and whether wording other than the law’s is unambiguous enough. We count any word that does something, including “cancel order”.
Who enforces it
The consumer authority in your country, such as the ACM in the Netherlands or the DGCCRF in France. In Germany competitors and associations can enforce it with a formal warning letter (Abmahnung). And a consumer can rely on the law directly, for example on the extended withdrawal period.
Questions
Is my returns portal enough?
Only if it works the way the law describes the button: clearly visible, usable without an account, with words that show the customer withdraws from the contract, and with a confirmation. “Register a return” does not say that explicitly; a return can also be an exchange or a repair.
Can I ask the customer to log in?
To identify them, yes. A customer who is already logged in should not have to identify themselves again (recital 37 of Directive 2023/2673), and a customer who ordered without an account must be able to reach the button too.
Is a link in the confirmation email enough?
No. A link like that helps, but the function has to be on your online interface itself, easy to find throughout the withdrawal period.
Does the model withdrawal form have to go?
No. The button comes on top of the existing ways to withdraw, such as the model form or an email (recital 37).
Can a customer withdraw from part of an order?
You may let them: if they ordered several products, the button can let them choose which ones (recital 37).
Read it yourself
- Directive (EU) 2023/2673 (opens in a new tab)
The directive that added the withdrawal function to the Consumer Rights Directive, with recital 37.
- Directive 2011/83/EU (opens in a new tab)
The Consumer Rights Directive that article 11a was added to.
- Netherlands: Civil Code, article 6:230oa (opens in a new tab)
The Dutch version, in force since 25 June 2026 (in Dutch).
- Germany: § 356a BGB (opens in a new tab)
The German version, in force since 19 June 2026 (in German).
See where your site stands
The free scan measures this and the four other rules in one go, from a European address, without clicking anything.