Does a UK-only online gift store need to comply with EU GDPR?

[Markssxx]

Hi All.

I wanted to ask what safeguards I need in place before my store opens. I will be selling gifts to U.K. customers which are sourced sourced from U.K. suppliers. My reason is to avoid the taxes and duties until I’m more experienced. I will not accept orders from outside the U.K. so do I need to still comply with EU GDPR or just the U.K. Rules. Or is it just as easy to accept orders from customers in the eu who want gifts delivered to uk. Addresses. Any advice welcomed on this. 

[Don]

Hi there @Markssxx!

Thanks for sharing your queries with us here in the Shopify Community.

I can share some info with you here on Shopify's GDPR compliance, and what you'd need to determine for yourself.

The first, most important point for me to make would be to clarify that we cannot offer legal advice from here in Shopify at all, so in order to ensure you're compliant with local requirements, we would have to recommend you contact a qualified legal expert in your jurisdiction.

They will be able to answer any questions you have about local data protection laws where you are.

In terms of selling to customers in the EU, you would need to comply with the General Data Production Regulation (GDPR).

How Shopify complies with this is laid out here on our help site. 

This applies to goods and services made available in the EU, so if you're not selling there (yet) you would not necessarily be affected by this.

If you're only looking to sell domestically, for the time being, you could set up your store's shipping zones to only cover the UK, which would prevent customers from overseas from checking out.

Can you tell me a bit more about your business, what you're selling, and anything you're doing to market your business so far?

[Markssxx]

Hi Don. Thank you for your reply and help. I will be selling gifts using Appscenic and Something Different both U.K. based.I have Facebook,Instagram and Twitter linked to the site. I am happy to share a link to the website so you can see. We are still adding products and using automated orders. 

[Don]

Hi again @Markssxx!

Thanks for getting back to me here again and for sharing those specifics on your business, that's great!

I'd recommend you check out our guide to setting up marketing in Shopify, as that will allow you to create ad campaigns in places like Google and Facebook.

In terms of your social media presence, I'd also recommend this article on our blog covering the importance of a content strategy.

If you're happy to share your store link we can take a look at it together to see what else we might be able to suggest!