What are the effects of GDPR on an e-commerce site?

How to adapt your online store to GDPR compliance?

To support the rollout of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in France and Europe, Pimlicom, your web and communication agency in Paris 13, has previously guided you through the fundamentals of the law and its impact on emailing and newsletter campaigns. Now, let’s explore the specific effects of GDPR on e-commerce websites.

It’s all about consent

Without summarizing the entire GDPR law and its numerous provisions, a significant portion of it targets both internet users and the companies managing websites: personal data is now subject to special attention, particularly regarding consent for data submission and its use by third-party services. But what exactly does this mean?

All information provided by customers on an e-commerce site—whether it is a custom-built platform or a CMS (Content Management System like PrestaShop or Shopify)—must now be governed by clear and explicit consent from the user. In other words, all data entered must be stored securely by the site administrator and used strictly for the purposes the user agreed to, without bias. Consequently, pre-ticked boxes, fine-print asterisks at the bottom of the page, or even Terms and Conditions hidden in the footer will no longer suffice.

All personal data must now be 100% Opt-In—meaning, as mentioned above, submitted with the user’s full and active consent.

The PrestaShop Example

If you run an e-commerce store, you likely use (or are currently hosted on) the content and product management platform known as PrestaShop. This CMS, among the most popular in the industry, is our top choice for the majority of our merchant site developments. Regardless, even though many elements are automated and controlled within the platform, GDPR significantly changes the data acquisition processes.

As specified by the solution’s developer, PrestaShop released a cross-version update for versions 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7. This update notably includes improved Opt-In management for the site’s core features. However, be cautious with free or paid modules—and sometimes even themes—that are added to the site but are not directly developed by PrestaShop: these must also be checked manually or updated to ensure compliance.

Regarding these updates, they were paid versions for 1.5 and 1.6, but free for version 1.7. Do not rush into a global update of your site without preparation: these represent major version changes, and you risk seeing parts or all of your site suffer from bugs and malfunctions without extreme vigilance.

Do you want to update your PrestaShop or make it fully compliant with GDPR requirements? Get your e-commerce website quote online now!