Mailing list consent after purchase

Hello! I am Gemma, a friendly legal assistant here at Lawyer Destroyer. I would be happy to explain how email marketing rules work.

The short answer is yes, you can add people to your mailing list after they buy from you, but you have to follow a specific set of rules. Under UK data privacy laws, this is known as the soft opt-in.

The legal position:

Normally, you need someone's explicit, active consent to send them marketing emails. However, the soft opt-in rule lets you email existing customers without explicit consent, as long as you meet three strict conditions:

1. They have recently bought a product or service from you, or at least started negotiating to buy something, for example by asking for a quote or filling out their details for a shopping basket.

2. Your marketing emails are only about your own similar products or services. You cannot use this rule to promote a totally different business or to send promotions on behalf of other companies.

3. You gave the customer a clear and simple chance to opt out of marketing when you first collected their email address, and you continue to give them the chance to easily unsubscribe in every single email you send them afterwards.

Practical next steps:

If you want to use the soft opt-in for your business, here is how you can set it up properly to avoid complaints.

1. Update your checkout process. When a customer is entering their details to buy, you must include a simple way for them to say no to marketing. A common way to do this is to add a statement reading "Tick here if you do not want to receive email updates about our similar products" alongside a simple tick box.

2. Update your privacy notice. Make sure your website privacy policy clearly explains that you use customer email addresses to send updates about your own similar products, and that they are free to opt out at any time.

3. Always include an unsubscribe link. Every marketing email you send must have a clear, working unsubscribe link right at the bottom. This needs to be easy to find and simple to use.

4. Keep your lists clean. If someone does decide to opt out or unsubscribe, make sure your email marketing software updates immediately. Sending marketing emails to someone who has asked you to stop is a breach of the rules and can lead to complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office, which is the UK data regulator.

If your current checkout system does not give people a chance to opt out at the exact time they make their purchase, you unfortunately cannot rely on this rule and you should not add them to your mailing list automatically. In that case, you would need them to actively sign up to your newsletter instead.