Guide to shipping communication - What online traders should pay attention to now
Munich, 06 June 2018 - What is still allowed in customer communication under the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)? The Munich-based start-up parcelLab GmbH, together with the law firm SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte, has created a white paper to provide online retailers with a guide and bring clarity to questions regarding customer communication. The focus is particularly on shipping communication. This is particularly important for the customer experience with every single e-commerce order.
Transaction-based customer communication holds great potential
"Communication during shipping can not only save a lot of hassle in the event of delivery problems, it also holds great potential to inspire customers with information or motivate them to make a further purchase with advertising. With our white paper, we want to provide retailers with a guideline that they can use to fully exploit this potential even after the GDPR comes into force," explains Tobias Buxhoidt, founder and CEO of parcelLab.
The white paper by parcelLab and SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte provides an overview of the new GDPR, briefly explains what is meant by "personal data" and lists the "5 commandments in data protection". Finally, the main part revolves around the three types of transaction-based customer communication and shows by means of examples what kind of additional information traders are allowed to include and whether customers have to give their consent beforehand. It also goes into detail once again about the different types of information that online retailers want to send to their customers: Product information, advertising, links to social networks and rating prompts. What is allowed? Why do you need the prior opt-in? Where do you have to be careful?
Shipping communication as part of customer service
In principle, the following applies: Messages may be sent if they are either directly necessary for the performance of the contract or (necessarily) connected with it, even without directly serving the performance of the main service. This means: Transaction-based customer communication is permitted, even if there is no explicit consent from the customer. Strictly speaking, therefore, dispatch messages are part of customer service - and not advertising. However, as soon as the messages are no longer related to order processing, the customer must explicitly consent to the communication.
"The permissibility of transactional emails always depends on whether they are to be classified as advertising. In this guide, together with parcelLab, we have summarised the things online traders should look out for in relation to the integration of advertising," says Stefan Schicker, lawyer at SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte.
You can download the whitepaper at the following link: https://bit.ly/2M10HGI
The press release can be downloaded here as Word document or as PDF.
About parcelLab:
parcelLab offers online shops efficient technology and implementation for successful post-purchase communication. The goal is to provide shoppers with interesting information throughout the entire shipping process and thus create an optimal shopping experience. Important delivery events or deviations are identified and sent individualised as an email, SMS, message via Facebook or within the retailer app. In this way, companies strengthen customer loyalty and can use further upselling potential by directing online shoppers back into the shop via specific messages.
The Munich-based start-up was founded in 2014 by Anton Eder, Tobias Buxhoidt and Julian Krenge. Today, over 25 employees work for more than 300 international retailers in 32 countries and 18 languages.
About SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte:
In a world that is spinning faster and faster, we stand for a
constant that combines future and tradition. Because we are already tackling the relevant legal issues of tomorrow today. Digital change, disruptive technologies and innovative business models can not only transform markets and change entire industries or even entire societies. They also often pose completely new legal problems when the technically feasible challenges the legal status quo. This is where we come in. It is one of our strengths to accompany such issues quickly, successfully and sustainably with a holistic and innovation-oriented view.
SKW Schwarz is one of the leading independent commercial law firms - with five offices and over 120 lawyers in Germany and internationally networked partner law firms worldwide. We advise companies in all areas of national and international commercial law. Due to our professional know-how, we are able to master challenging mandates and solve tasks of any degree of complexity.
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parcelLab
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