What is the withdrawal button?
The withdrawal button is a permanently available digital function on your website that lets customers withdraw from their contract in a few clicks. It is the counterpart to the „Buy“ button: whoever can order online should be able to withdraw online just as easily — no letter, no phone call, no hurdles.
An important distinction: the withdrawal button (§ 356a German Civil Code) concerns the 14-day right of withdrawal in distance selling. It is NOT to be confused with the cancellation button (§ 312k, in force since 2022), which ends ongoing continuing obligations such as subscriptions. Both may be required side by side — they trigger different processes.
Legal basis: § 356a German Civil Code and EU Directive 2023/2673
The obligation stems from the new § 356a German Civil Code, by which Germany transposes EU Directive (EU) 2023/2673 into national law. The directive's goal is to make withdrawal in distance selling as easy as concluding the contract itself — a uniform consumer-protection standard across the EU.
The timeline: the German implementing act was passed on 19 December 2025 and published in the Federal Law Gazette on 5 February 2026. § 356a takes effect on 19 June 2026 — with no transition period. From that day the withdrawal function must be present and correctly implemented in your shop.
Who does the obligation apply to?
It applies to all traders who conclude distance contracts with consumers (B2C) via an online interface — website, shop or app — where a statutory right of withdrawal exists. That covers nearly every classic B2C online shop.
Important: there is no exception for micro-enterprises or low-revenue shops. Start-ups, side-business shops and small traders must provide the function too. It applies on marketplaces as well. For mixed business models (B2B and B2C), the withdrawal button must at least be available for the consumer area.
When the withdrawal button is NOT required
The obligation only applies where a statutory right of withdrawal exists at all. Excluded in particular are:
- Pure B2B contracts (exclusively business-to-business)
- Contracts concluded by phone, fax or order card (not via an online interface)
- Goods made to the customer's specifications or clearly personalised
- Sealed goods that, for health or hygiene reasons, were unsealed after delivery
- Digital content whose execution began with the consumer's express consent before the withdrawal period ended
- Perishable goods
The requirements in detail
To make your implementation legally sound, the function must meet several criteria, which are clearly regulated:
- Unambiguous label: the button carries the words „Vertrag widerrufen“ (withdraw from contract) or an equally clear formulation. Ambiguous terms like „Cancel“, „Service request“ or „Return“ are not permitted.
- Clearly visible and immediately reachable: prominently placed, visually highlighted, without unnecessary intermediate steps — and without login. Guest buyers must be able to use it too.
- It doesn't have to be a technical button: a clearly recognisable, highlighted hyperlink is also permitted. What matters is findability, an unambiguous label and the correct process.
- Two-step process: the first button leads to a withdrawal form page; there, a second button labelled „Widerruf bestätigen“ (confirm withdrawal) completes the process.
- Permanent availability: the function must be reachable throughout the entire withdrawal period.
Which data you may request — and which you may not
On the form page, the principle of data minimisation applies. You may only request the details needed to identify the contract and the person:
- Name of the consumer
- Order or contract number for unambiguous allocation
- an electronic means of contact (usually the email address) for the acknowledgement of receipt
The acknowledgement of receipt — the often-overlooked requirement
As soon as the consumer has submitted the withdrawal, the trader must promptly confirm receipt on a durable medium — in practice by email. This confirmation must contain two things: the content of the withdrawal declaration as well as the date and exact time of receipt.
This is exactly the part most often forgotten in DIY solutions. A mere „Thanks, we received your request“ on the website isn't enough — you need the provable, time-stamped record sent to the customer.
What happens if you don't comply
The consequences are significant — and threefold:
- Warnings (Abmahnungen) from competitors or consumer associations — with a clearly regulated obligation and a known deadline, a wave of warnings is to be expected (as happened with the cancellation button in 2022).
- Fines up to €50,000; for companies with over €1.25 million annual revenue, up to 4% of annual revenue is possible.
- Extended withdrawal period: if the function (or the information about it) is missing, the withdrawal period extends from 14 days to 12 months and 14 days — customers can then still withdraw more than a year later.
Implementing the withdrawal button: step by step
You don't have to reinvent the wheel. With our free, open-source withdrawal button the obligation is met in minutes — it comes with the two-step process, the correct labels, data minimisation and the automatic acknowledgement of receipt with a timestamp built in.
The integration in brief:
- Register and confirm your email (double opt-in) — you receive your ready-made embed snippet.
- Paste the snippet into your shop (works on Shopify, WooCommerce, Shopware or any custom site).
- Place the button clearly visible and without login — e.g. in the footer.
- Done: customers withdraw via the button, you get notified, and the customer automatically receives the acknowledgement of receipt.
Checklist: is your withdrawal button compliant?
Check your implementation against these points:
- The „Vertrag widerrufen“ button is easy to find on every page and reachable without login
- Two-step flow with a „Widerruf bestätigen“ confirmation button
- The form only asks for name, order/contract number and email — no reason
- The customer promptly receives an email acknowledgement with content, date and time
- The function is available throughout the entire withdrawal period
- The withdrawal policy points to the function and its placement
