Legally compliant texts are essential for every online store in order to avoid warnings and legal problems. The legal notice, terms and conditions, privacy policy and withdrawal policy must always be up-to-date and legally compliant - but this can be a challenge, especially for retailers without legal expertise. Changes in the law require regular adjustments and mistakes can be expensive. Niklas Plutte, lawyer & specialist lawyer and founder & owner of avalex, tells us in an interview how avalex comes into play here.
At a glance - what we implemented for avalex:
Basic setup of the Shopify app
Integration of the Shopify Billing API
User interface in the Shopify app
Function for automatically retrieving the legal texts
Creation or revision of the Shopify App Store listing
Support during the Shopify app review process
Table of contents
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Why legal texts are indispensable for online stores
A professional online store needs more than just an appealing design and a good product range - legal protection also plays a decisive role. Without correct terms and conditions, a transparent privacy policy or a complete legal notice, retailers risk warnings that can quickly become expensive. It is particularly challenging that legal requirements are constantly changing and store operators have to make regular improvements. If you don't keep up to date here, you run the risk of unknowingly violating the law. To minimize these risks, many retailers rely on automated solutions that always keep their legal texts up to date.
Reading tip: Legal texts in online stores: No store should be without these legal texts.
What is avalex?
Anyone who runs an online store has to deal with numerous legal requirements. This can quickly become a challenge, especially for retailers without a legal background. Incorrect or outdated legal texts harbor a high risk of warnings, which can be expensive.
This is where avalex comes into play. The Mainz-based company offers a software-as-a-service solution that provides Shopify stores with automatically updated legal texts. The app not only creates individual and legally compliant texts for websites and online stores, but also keeps them continuously up to date - without manual intervention on the part of the store operator. Changes in legislation are automatically adopted so that retailers no longer have to worry about outdated or incorrect texts.
“We have set ourselves the goal of automatically keeping legal texts up to date so that customers don't have to worry about them. If there is a new judgment or a new change in the law, we update it centrally. These updates are imported directly into the customer's website via the plugins,” says Niklas Plutte.
Thanks to its seamless integration into Shopify, avalex is extremely easy to use. Once set up, the app automatically synchronizes with the store and updates the legal texts as soon as the legal framework changes. This keeps your store legally compliant at all times.
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Reach your goal with Latori and Shopify
The idea behind avalex arose from the need to provide website and store operators with automatically updated legal texts. What began with simple generators quickly developed into a comprehensive SaaS product. As demand and the complexity of the system grew, so did the need for seamless integration with Shopify. As Shopify is an important market for e-commerce merchants, it was clear that a dedicated app was needed - and Latori was brought on board to develop it.
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The collaboration began on recommendation, as Latori is considered one of the best partners for development in the Shopify ecosystem. However, the implementation was anything but a sure-fire success. The app not only had to reliably transfer legal texts from the avalex system to Shopify stores, but also be as easy to use as possible. At the same time, numerous requirements and technical framework conditions had to be taken into account - both on the part of avalex and Shopify itself.
The development and listing of the app
The development of the avalex app for Shopify was a challenging project that required close collaboration between avalex and Latori. Latori implemented the basic setup of the Shopify app and integrated the Shopify Billing API to enable seamless billing via Shopify. A user-friendly interface within the Shopify app was developed to allow merchants to intuitively manage their legal texts. In addition, a function was implemented that automatically retrieves the legal texts and keeps them up to date. In addition to the technical implementation, Latori also took care of the creation and optimization of the Shopify App Store listing as well as the support of the demanding Shopify App Review process - with success.
Reading tip: Shopify apps: 21 useful tools for your online store.
After more than a year of development, it was done: the avalex app for Shopify was ready for use and working stably. Despite all the challenges, the result was worth the effort - retailers can now keep their legal texts up to date with just a few clicks.
When asked whether avalex would recommend Latori to others, Niklas answers like this:
“Yes, definitely! You did a good job. The staff were very friendly, very communicative and very open in their whole manner. I would definitely recommend Latori.”
How avalex works: Automatic legal texts and continuous monitoring
With avalex, Shopify merchants and website operators can not only automatically keep their legal texts up to date, but also get an overview of which web services are active on their site. It's easy to get started: you can enter your own domain on the avalex website, whereupon a scanner analyzes the existing page within a few seconds. It not only checks whether legal texts already exist, but also recognizes active tracking and marketing tools such as Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel. This initial analysis is free of charge and enables every store operator to get an overview of the current legal situation of their site.
Those who opt for avalex can book the service directly and receive access to a personal avalex account. Not only can legal texts for one or more domains be configured there, but other settings can also be customized. As this is a do-it-yourself service, the texts are not created individually by a lawyer, but are based on ready-made, legally compliant templates that are constantly adapted to current changes in the law. This allows avalex to offer the service at significantly lower costs than a traditional law firm - for online stores from €13.90 per month.
Integration into the Shopify store is easy via the avalex Shopify app, which establishes a direct connection between the store and the current legal texts.
A special feature of avalex is the consent banner provided in cooperation, which obtains the consent of visitors for tracking and marketing tools in compliance with data protection regulations. This is included in the package as standard and ensures that services such as Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel are only loaded once the user has actively consented.
Reading tip: Cookie Consent with Shopify: How to create legally compliant cookie banners.
In addition, an automatic check of the website runs once a week to identify any new web services that have been added. If something changes, the store operator receives a notification by e-mail and can make the necessary adjustments with just a few clicks. To ensure that the legal texts are correctly integrated at all times, avalex also offers a monitoring system that checks whether the latest version of the texts is being used and whether the integration is running smoothly. If there are any technical problems, the merchant receives an automatic warning and specific suggestions for solutions.
Thanks to this comprehensive automation, avalex relieves online retailers of the worry of legal changes and incorrect legal texts. This means that the store remains legally compliant without retailers having to constantly make manual improvements or deal with complicated technical details.
The advantages at a glance
Automatic updates: legal texts are regularly updated in line with new legal requirements without the retailer having to do anything themselves.
Easy integration: The app can be seamlessly integrated into Shopify and other CMSs via plugins or a hosting option.
Legal certainty: The risk of warnings is minimized thanks to texts that are always up-to-date and legally checked.
Website scanner: Existing legal texts and active web services such as tracking or marketing tools are automatically detected.
Consent banner included: A cookie banner ensures that tracking tools are only activated with the user's consent - GDPR-compliant and at no additional cost.
Cost-efficient: The app is cheaper than individual lawyer services as it is a SaaS solution.
Monitoring & alerts: The implementation of the legal texts is continuously checked and you are informed of any errors or necessary adjustments.
Multiple domains can be managed: Users can manage multiple websites via a central avalex account.
Reading tip: Shopify GDPR: What you should consider in your privacy policy.
The future of avalex: What else is planned?
Additional functions have already been added to the app, including the option to terminate directly in the app and seamlessly synchronize this termination with the Shopify app. This simplifies the process for merchants and ensures greater transparency in the management of their legal texts.
A key goal for the future is to further expand the reach and make avalex even better known in order to support as many online retailers as possible with automated and always up-to-date legal texts.
Many thanks to Niklas Plutte for the interview! Would you also like to develop a Shopify app? We would be happy to help you! Get in touch with us and we'll talk about your requirements.
