Designing a launch page before the product ships

A ceramicist with a first kiln run booked, a board game designer waiting on a print batch or a small food brand ahead of its first delivery may want a page up before there is anything to send. The first design decision is what that page asks visitors for.

A waiting list or pre-orders

A waiting list asks for an email address, and the maker promises to write when the product is ready. Nobody pays, and the page is mostly about the product and the sign-up box.

A pre-order takes payment now for goods sent later. That is a sale made at a distance, so the page has to carry the information the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 list for buyers. Business Companion, a guide to trading standards law for England, Scotland and Wales, sets that list out for traders in everyday terms.

Show the date you expect, and what happens if it slips

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 has a default rule for delivery, in section 28. Unless the trader and the buyer agree a time or period, the trader has to deliver without undue delay, and never more than 30 days after the contract. A pre-order page is where that agreed date is shown.

Put the expected date near the product name, in words a buyer can hold you to, such as "We will send pre-orders in the week of 1 March". If it slips, write to buyers before the date passes.

Section 28 also covers a missed date. Where delivery on time was essential, or the buyer said so before ordering, the buyer may treat the contract as at an end. In other cases the buyer may set a further period that suits the circumstances, and may end the contract if the goods have not arrived by then. Either way, the trader must then refund all payments without undue delay.

Put the key facts beside the order button

For an order placed online, regulation 14 says the trader must show certain information in a clear and prominent manner, and directly before the consumer places the order. That includes what the product is, its total price with taxes, and any delivery charges.

The button itself has rules too. Under the same regulation it must be labelled order with obligation to pay or a wording just as clear. Business Companion gives "buy now", "pay now" and "confirm purchase" as examples that can work. If the button is not labelled that way, the buyer is not bound by the order.

A buyer of goods at a distance usually has 14 days to cancel, counted from the day the goods arrive. Some goods are exceptions, including goods made to the buyer's own specification or clearly personalised, and goods that can go off or expire quickly. Business Companion gives a made-to-measure suit and fresh flowers as examples. Where there is no right to cancel, the trader has to tell the buyer so before they are bound. Where there is one, the trader has to explain how to cancel, and Business Companion warns that leaving that out can stretch the cancellation period by up to 12 months.

Stock, numbers and deadlines

The CAP Code, the UK's code for non-broadcast advertising, covers what a maker says on its own website when it sells. Its rules on availability apply to stock claims. Rule 3.27 says marketers must make a reasonable estimate of demand for the products they advertise.

Under rule 3.30, marketing must not falsely state that a product, or the terms it is offered on, will be available only for a limited time. A countdown on the page has to end when it says it will.

Rule 3.31 covers materially inaccurate information about availability, so a line such as "only 50 made" has to be true.

The rules in one place

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