GPSR for online stores: what product information you need from 13 December 2024

From 13 December 2024, GPSR also applies to every online store. This is Regulation 2023/988. It requires every listing to show the manufacturer’s details, information that identifies the product, and warnings and safety information. I’m writing this for owners and admins of WooCommerce or PrestaShop stores in small and medium businesses. It’s September 2024, so you still have a few months to sort out your product pages calmly, without firefighting in the last week.

What Regulation 2023/988 is and who it covers

GPSR is the EU General Product Safety Regulation. It applies from 13 December 2024. It also covers distance selling, which includes the internet. The obligations are split across several roles in the supply chain: the manufacturer, the importer, the distributor and the responsible person in the EU. This is where the first piece of work starts, because the store has to know which role it plays for each product. Do you bring in goods from outside the EU yourself? Then you are responsible as an importer. Not as a simple middleman.

What product information GPSR requires an online store to show

The rule is simple: the product page must show the same information the manufacturer puts on the product or its packaging. An online customer can’t pick up the box and read the label, so the store has to show it to them another way. In practice, you end up with this list:

• manufacturer details: name, registered trade name or trademark, plus postal and email address,
• the responsible person in the EU, if the manufacturer is based outside the EU,
• the type, batch or serial number, or another element that lets you identify the product,
• a photo of the product,
• warnings and safety information in Polish.

You’ll find a full description of these requirements on the UOKiK page on business obligations. The whole idea comes down to one thing: the product must be identifiable, and its path from the manufacturer to the consumer must be traceable.

Manufacturer details on the product page and the responsible person in the EU

For every product, you state who made it and how to contact them. Manufacturer outside the EU? Then you also add the details of the responsible person. Without one, goods from a non-EU country can’t be placed on the EU market at all. Full stop. The importer has more on its plate, too. It must make sure the product meets the general safety requirement and comes with the manufacturer’s details, identification data and instructions. It is also responsible for making sure transport and storage don’t affect the product’s compliance. In my view, the sensible approach is to collect this information from suppliers before the goods even reach your store (not only when someone asks for it).

Warnings and safety instructions: when you need them

Instructions and safety information in Polish are mandatory. Unless the product can be used safely as intended without them. UOKiK gives two examples here: a kitchen knife and a ballpoint pen. So how do you show this in an online store? You have a few options:

• as a separate section on the product page,
• as a downloadable PDF file,
• as a link to the instructions on the manufacturer’s website.

The second issue is customer reports and complaints. It’s good to have a clear process for them. The manufacturer collects and analyses information about accidents involving its products, so signals from buyers should reach it instead of getting stuck in the customer service inbox.

How to prepare product pages in WooCommerce and PrestaShop

The simplest way? Fixed GPSR fields on the product page, filled in for every item. The information always ends up in the same place, and gaps are easy to spot. Step by step, it looks roughly like this:

1. List your product range and assign a supplier and manufacturer to each product.
2. Decide on a set of fields: manufacturer, responsible person, identifier, warnings.
3. Add these fields in your store admin panel.
4. Fill in the data for all products.
5. Check that everything is complete before 13 December 2024.

In WooCommerce, you can show some of this information on the product page with the Woo Product Fields Pro plugin from K4.pl, although it’s mainly designed for options chosen by the customer. It supports select, checkbox and text fields. Each field gets a label and a database key, you can mark it as required, and for an option you can add an external URL for „Read more”. For example, to the manufacturer’s instructions. A good choice if you don’t want to dig into your theme’s code.

A plan for the last weeks before 13 December 2024

Collecting data from suppliers will take the longest. That’s why I’d start there, and right away. First up are products imported from outside the EU, because without a responsible person you simply can’t sell them. Right after them come goods that need warnings: electronics, toys, household chemicals. And one more thing. Decide who in your company fills in the data for new products, or after December you’ll start seeing product pages without the required fields again. All in all, it’s best if handling GPSR in your online store becomes a routine step when adding every product. Not a one-off push before a deadline.

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