From 19th of June 2026, traders selling online to EU consumers must provide a clear, easy-to-access digital withdrawal function: a distinctly labelled way for a customer to submit a withdrawal declaration through the same interface they bought through, with a confirmation step and an acknowledgement of receipt. It comes from Directive (EU) 2023/2673, which amends the Consumer Rights Directive.
A withdrawal flow should not force the consumer through the same screens as a discretionary return and should not require the consumer to upload a photo, write a complaint description, or wait for retailer approval before the withdrawal is accepted.
Full nShift post about the directive (opens in new tab).
To support this with Webshipper, we recommend you setup a new return portal without the usual requirements to allow customers to quickly withdraw during the 14-day cooloff period, which will be explained with an example below.
How to setup a return portal without requirements
To support the new rules from the EU directive, the withdrawal portal should not require any of the usual return requirements such as:
- Upload photo
- Complaint description
- Approval for return label
In short, the customer should be able to process their withdrawal and receive a return label with no questions asked in this 14-day period.
To configure this in Webshipper, you can follow the below template:
1. Setup return portal with 14 day interval accounting for shipping time
On the first step of portal creation, its important to limit the usage for about 2 weeks after your customers receive their products. If you usually ship within 3 days, you should therefore set the interval to 17 days as an example.
2. Simple refund methods and optional cause of return
You can add any refund methods you prefer, but its important the Cause of Return is optional by checking the 'Return cause is optional and may be ommited by customer' box and none of the 'Limit refund methods', 'Comment required' or 'Support image required' are checked.
Our system requires a single cause of return to be configured, so we recommend configuring one like the screenshot below with title 'Change of mind' and description 'No questions asked withdrawal request'.
3. Configure any return shipping rates you prefer
For the shipping tab you can select any return shipping rates you prefer to handle these requests with.
4. Ensure return cases are automatically approved
In the details tab, its imperative you check the Automatically send label without approval box, to comply with the new EU terms.
The last Brand & Text tab you are welcome to style however you wish.
By following the above steps, your return portal will comply with the new directive from EU.
If you have any questions, our support is of course available to help!