EU withdrawal button: what Article 11a requires of a store

If a customer in the EU can buy from your store through a website or app, Article 11a of the Consumer Rights Directive requires a withdrawal function labelled "withdraw from contract here", a second step labelled "confirm withdrawal", and an acknowledgement of receipt sent to the customer "without undue delay". Member States must apply it from 19 June 2026; it doesn't change the 14-day withdrawal period or the refund deadline, but it puts more withdrawals in front of your support team.

Below: what the article says, what it leaves unchanged, the Shopify settings, and four reply templates. Words in double braces, like {{order_number}}, are blanks: fill each one from the order, never from memory.

What Article 11a requires

Directive (EU) 2023/2673 is mostly about financial services, but it also inserted a new Article 11a into the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) that covers every distance contract "concluded by the means of an online interface". Its recital 37 says why: so that consumers "can withdraw from a contract just as easily as they can conclude it", and the obligation applies to all distance contracts that carry a right of withdrawal, not only financial ones.

Article 11a	What it says
The function	"the trader shall ensure that the consumer can also withdraw from the contract by using a withdrawal function" (para. 1)
Its label	"withdraw from contract here" or an unambiguous corresponding formulation, "in an easily legible way" (para. 1)
When and where	"continuously available throughout the withdrawal period", "prominently displayed on the online interface and easily accessible" (para. 1)
What the customer gives	their name, details identifying the contract, and details of the electronic means by which the confirmation will be sent to them (para. 2)
The second step	a confirmation function labelled "only with the words 'confirm withdrawal'" or an unambiguous corresponding formulation (para. 3)
Your acknowledgement	"an acknowledgement of receipt of the withdrawal on a durable medium, including its content and the date and time of its submission, without undue delay" (para. 4)
The deadline	the customer has withdrawn in time if they submitted the statement before the withdrawal period expired (para. 5)

A "durable medium" is defined in Article 2(10) of the directive as an instrument that lets the customer store information addressed personally to them and reproduce it unchanged. Annex I's own example, in the model instructions, is "e.g. by email".

Recital 37 adds three points worth knowing. The customer should not have to do things like download an app to find the function if they didn't buy through that app. A customer who is already logged in should not have to identify themselves or the contract again. And where one order holds several items, the trader "can" let the customer withdraw from part of it rather than all of it.

From when, and what else changed

Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2023/2673 told Member States to adopt and publish their national rules "by 19 December 2025 at the latest" and to "apply those measures from 19 June 2026". The withdrawal function therefore reaches your store through each country's national law. National wording, placement rules and penalties may differ; this article doesn't cover them, so check the law of the countries you sell to.

Two other changes came with it:

• The information you give before the sale. Article 6(1)(h) now asks for, where applicable, "information about the existence and placement of the withdrawal function referred to in Article 11a". This sits in the same point as the rest of your withdrawal information, and Article 10 extends the withdrawal period by 12 months where the Article 6(1)(h) information was not given.
• The model withdrawal instructions. Instruction 3 in Annex I(A) now gives this sentence for your withdrawal policy: "You can also exercise your right of withdrawal online at [insert internet address or another appropriate explanation of where the withdrawal function is available]. If you use this online feature, we will send you an acknowledgement of receipt of the withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by email), including its content and the date and time of its submission, without undue delay."

What the button does not change

The withdrawal function is a new door, not a new right. These rules from the Consumer Rights Directive stay as they were:

• The period. 14 days, which for goods runs from the day the customer acquires physical possession, or of the last item if one order arrives in several deliveries (Article 9).
• The other ways to withdraw. The customer may still use the model withdrawal form or "any other unequivocal statement" (Article 11(1)), so an email that says "I want to withdraw" still counts.
• The refund. All payments, including standard delivery, "not later than 14 days" from the day you are informed of the withdrawal; for goods you may wait until you have them back or have evidence they were sent (Article 13).
• The return. The customer sends the goods back within 14 days of telling you (Article 14).

The full set of rules, with exceptions and return costs, is in the EU right of withdrawal for online stores.

Setting it up in Shopify

Shopify's Help Center says you can use its return and cancellation rules "to help meet the electronic withdrawal function requirement". The settings it lists for EU orders are in Settings > Policies > Return and cancellation rules:

1. Turn on self-serve returns and cancellations, with Return and cancel requests selected.
2. Turn on cancellation rules with the window set to Until item is fulfilled.
3. Set a return window of at least 14 days, Starting from set to Delivery of last item in order, and select Extend to account for weekends or holidays.
4. Add a visible link in your store to the customer account pages where both actions are.
5. If the EU needs different rules from other markets, add a market-specific policy.

Shopify adds, in its own words: "Using these tools doesn't automatically make your store compliant." Compare what your setup shows the customer with the table above: the label, the confirmation step, and the acknowledgement with date and time.

What support does with each withdrawal

A withdrawal made through the function has already happened when it reaches you; the customer doesn't need your permission. Support's job is to make sure the rest follows:

1. Check the acknowledgement went out. If your function doesn't send one by itself, send Template 1 the same day.
2. Find the order and its state. Not yet shipped, shipped, or delivered (and when) decides the next step.
3. Stop or recover the goods. Cancel fulfilment if it hasn't shipped; send return instructions if it has.
4. Refund on time. Note the date you were informed. The 14 days run from then.
5. Keep the record. Article 11 puts the burden of proving a withdrawal on the customer, so they may later ask you for the acknowledgement; keep a copy with the order.

Template 1: acknowledging a withdrawal

Use this when your withdrawal function didn't send the acknowledgement itself, or when the customer withdraws by email and you want to confirm it in the same form. Check the submission date and time in the record before sending.

Hi {{first_name}},

We've received your withdrawal from order {{order_number}}. This email is your acknowledgement of receipt.

You submitted it on {{submission_date}} at {{submission_time}}, with this statement: "{{withdrawal_statement}}"

{{next_step_sentence}} We'll refund {{refund_amount}} to your original payment method by {{refund_deadline}} at the latest.

{{your_name}}

For {{next_step_sentence}}, use "The order hadn't shipped, so we've cancelled it." or "Please send the items back to {{return_address}} within 14 days of today."

Template 2: the order hasn't shipped yet

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for letting us know. Order {{order_number}} hadn't left us yet, so we've cancelled it and nothing will be sent.

We've refunded {{refund_amount}}, including delivery, to the {{payment_method}} you paid with. Depending on your bank, it can take {{bank_processing_days}} to show.

{{your_name}}

How to cancel and refund in the Shopify admin is in the order cancellation reply guide.

Template 3: the parcel is on its way or delivered

Hi {{first_name}},

Your withdrawal from order {{order_number}} is confirmed. Please send the items back to:

{{return_address}}

within 14 days of {{withdrawal_date}}. {{return_cost_sentence}}

We'll refund {{refund_amount}} within 14 days of receiving your withdrawal. If the items haven't reached us by then, we'll refund as soon as they arrive or you send us proof of postage, whichever comes first.

{{your_name}}

{{return_cost_sentence}} must match what you told the customer before the sale: either that you pay for the return, or that they bear the direct cost. If you never told them they would bear it, Article 14 says they don't.

Template 4: "I didn't mean to withdraw"

The confirmation step exists, says recital 37, "to avoid the unintended exercise of the right of withdrawal", but some customers will still press it by mistake. The directive doesn't say what happens next, so don't tell the customer their withdrawal is cancelled; ask what they want.

Hi {{first_name}},

We received a withdrawal from order {{order_number}} on {{submission_date}}, and your email says that wasn't what you meant.

If you'd like to keep the order, reply "keep my order" and {{what_happens_if_they_keep_it}}. If you'd still like to withdraw, you don't need to do anything; we'll go ahead as described in our acknowledgement.

{{your_name}}

For refund replies outside the withdrawal rules, see the refund request email templates. Selling to the UK as well? It isn't covered by Article 11a; see UK refund rules for online orders.

Answering withdrawals with Corresso

Each withdrawal ends in an email: an acknowledgement to check, return instructions, a refund confirmation. Corresso drafts the reply to every incoming email from the documents your store approved, such as your withdrawal policy and returns page, and each fact in the draft cites the document it came from.

Order facts stay blank. With Shopify connected (read-only), the customer's orders appear beside the email and one click fills the order number, tracking and ship date into the draft. A rule holds any draft that promises a refund without citing a document allowed to offer one. A person reads every draft and presses Send, and refunds and cancellations stay in your Shopify admin. How Corresso works with Shopify.

This is a summary, not legal advice. Sources read on 20 October 2026.