‘Click to agree’ terms and conditions are incredibly common across e-commerce stores.
Did you know that Click-Wrap Agreements are one of the most common styles of electronic contract acceptance seen in the online marketplace? What about Browse-Wrap agreements? Read on to learn the difference between the two:
Click-Wrap Agreement
Click-Wrap Agreements are an electronic agreement where the terms and conditions are located on the same page as the “I Agree” or “I Accept” button.
A customer will need to accept the agreement before purchasing goods or services online. An example of a Click-Wrap Agreement is purchasing a membership to an online streaming service.
Generally speaking, Click-Wrap Agreements are considered a reliable form of online acceptance and therefore have a good chance of being enforceable in the event of any disputes.
Browse-Wrap Agreement
A Browse-Wrap Agreement on the other hand is an electronic agreement where the terms and conditions are not located on the same page as the “I Agree” or “I Accept” button. They are usually accessed via a hyperlink on the same poge.
A customer does not necessarily need to view the terms and conditions before being allowed to proceed with the purchase of goods and services.
This type of agreement is less likely to be enforceable in court as it’s hard to show that the user has reviewed the terms and conditions. An example of a Browse-Wrap Agreement is website terms of use.
The ‘NameDrop’ Experiment
How many times have you clicked “agree” to a company’s Terms of Use or Privacy Policy without actually reading it?
It’s an oldie but a goodie when it comes to the case study experiment ‘NameDrop’ and it’s Click-Wrap agreement.
‘NameDrop’ was a bogus social network created by two communications professors, Jonathan Obar of York University in Toronto and Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch of the university in Connecticut. They wanted to test how many college students read through the terms of service before signing up to NameDrop.
Only a quarter of the 543 students bothered to look at the fine print with the majority agreeing to paragraph 2.3.1 of the terms of service; give NameDrop their future first-born children.
The experiment seemingly confirmed what most researchers have found: most people don’t read online contracts, license agreements, terms of service, privacy policies or other agreements before signing up to a service. Read more here.
The most common issue with by-passing the actual reading part of a contract’s terms is agreeing to have your data shared, sold or stored with third party users.
So what’s the best solution?
Taking time to read your contracts and understand the conditions before agreeing to their terms.
A Final Note
It’s important as always that your terms and conditions are drafted in such a way that they account for any future updates and are applicable with all relevant national and state/territory laws.
A Click-Wrap Agreement can be more user friendly than simply having terms and conditions listed on your website as they are actively highlighted to any consumer making a purchase.
If you need assistance with adding terms and conditions to your website, we can help. Send our friendly team an email by getting in touch with us here.
We also have contract templates available in our online store, including Terms of Use and Terms of Trade (for creatives). Head to our store here to peruse our contract templates: www.littonlegal.com.au/shop
