27 September 2026 will be an important date for retailers selling goods to consumers in the European Union. New measures introduced through Directive (EU) 2024/825 are intended to make guarantee and durability information more visible and understandable for consumers.
A related Commission Implementing Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/1960, establishes the design and content of two new harmonised elements: the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity, and the harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability. The Implementing Regulation becomes applicable on 27 September 2026, the same date from which Member States are required to apply the measures transposing Directive (EU) 2024/825.
For ecommerce businesses, this means guarantee information can no longer be treated simply as text hidden deep inside terms and conditions.
1. The harmonised legal-guarantee notice
The first element is a harmonised notice designed to remind consumers that they benefit from legal rights when goods do not conform to the contract. Directive (EU) 2024/825 states that this notice should be presented prominently. For online sales, the Directive specifically describes the notice being placed as a general reminder on the website of the trader selling goods.
This distinction matters. The notice is not a manufacturer warranty badge. It is consumer-rights information.
2. The durability label
The second element is more product-specific. The harmonised durability label concerns a commercial guarantee of durability offered by the producer. It becomes relevant when the producer offers a qualifying guarantee: at no additional cost to the consumer; covering the entire good; lasting more than two years; and where the necessary information is made available to the trader.
Where these conditions are met, the trader must inform consumers about the existence and duration of that guarantee using the harmonised label. This means the durability label should not simply be added to every product. Stores need product-level logic.
3. Why ecommerce implementation is not completely trivial
For a small store with a single language and a small catalogue, manual implementation may initially sound straightforward. But complexity increases quickly. Imagine a store with 4,000 products; five EU markets; several languages; different manufacturers; different commercial guarantee periods; and frequent catalogue updates.
Now the merchant needs to determine which information belongs at store level, at product level, before checkout, in which language, and for which products. That is where automation becomes useful.
4. What merchants should start doing now
Stores should not wait until the final week of September. A practical first audit should include:
- Check your sales model — are you selling goods to consumers, and which EU markets are you serving?
- Review existing guarantee information — where are legal-guarantee rights currently explained: product page, terms and conditions, FAQ, checkout?
- Identify durability guarantees — determine which manufacturers provide relevant commercial guarantees of durability, and whether the information required by the legislation is available to you.
- Review language handling — cross-border ecommerce makes translation and localisation especially important.
- Decide who owns compliance — legal, ecommerce, development, product-data, or the agency managing the store? The answer should be clear before implementation begins.
5. Automating the process
WarrantyARK Connect is designed to make this easier for WooCommerce merchants. Instead of treating EU guarantee information as a set of static graphics, WarrantyARK approaches it as part of the ecommerce infrastructure — built around harmonised guarantee information, 24 EU languages, product-level durability information, and a post-purchase connection to the WarrantyARK consumer app. The result is a system where compliance can also become part of the customer experience.
Compliance does not have to end at checkout
The regulatory change creates a new requirement. But it also creates an opportunity. After purchase, WarrantyARK Connect can give customers a way to add their purchase to WarrantyARK. That means the same transaction can later become stored proof of purchase, a tracked warranty, an expiry reminder, or the starting point for a future claim.
Instead of seeing the September rules purely as another compliance cost, retailers can use the change to improve their post-purchase experience.
The date to remember
27 September 2026. Online retailers should use the remaining weeks to understand the requirements, audit their existing ecommerce setup, and decide how they will implement the new information consistently.
Read next: EU guarantee compliance 2026 — the full guide · WooCommerce EU guarantee compliance · Free readiness checklist
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Check your store → Get the pluginThis article provides general information and is not legal advice. Businesses should consider their specific circumstances and relevant national implementation rules, and consult the official texts of Directive (EU) 2024/825 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960.