Writing a research-use confirmation for checkout

A research-use confirmation is the statement a buyer agrees to before paying, confirming that the order is for laboratory research and fits your terms of sale. To mean anything, it needs four things: clear wording, a visible place in checkout, an active choice by the buyer, and a record of the exact text they saw.

This guide works through each of those, with a short test plan at the end.

Decide what the buyer needs to confirm

Start with your buyer profile and your terms, not with a template. Common elements for a research supplier are:

• the products are purchased for laboratory research only
• the products are not for human or animal consumption
• the products will be handled by qualified personnel
• the buyer accepts your terms of sale, linked separately

Include only what you can stand behind and act on. If the statement says qualified personnel, your buyer checks should look for an organization with a laboratory. See terms of sale for research-use-only products for what usually sits in the terms themselves.

Write it in plain words

• Use the first person, so the buyer is clearly making the statement: "I confirm..."
• Keep sentences short, with one idea in each.
• Use everyday words. Avoid Latin phrases and dense legal drafting.
• Match the wording on your product pages, labels and terms.
• Leave out marketing. The confirmation is not the place for brand voice.

An example that covers the common elements: "I confirm these products are purchased for laboratory research only, are not for human or animal consumption, and will be handled by qualified personnel."

Wording to avoid

• Vague phrases such as "for lawful purposes only" that do not say what the buyer is confirming.
• Language that presents the statement as a formality, such as "just tick to continue".
• Claims about the products. The confirmation is about the buyer and the purchase.
• Anything that contradicts your product pages or labels.

Place it where buyers will read it

• Show the full text on the checkout page, not only a link to it.
• Put it near the payment button, so the buyer confirms before submitting payment.
• Make sure it is visible on a phone without opening another screen.
• Keep it apart from newsletter sign-ups and other optional boxes.
• If you need more than one confirmation, keep each one short and give each its own control.

Never pre-tick the box

A pre-ticked confirmation records your choice, not the buyer's. In announcing its 2022 report on dark patterns, the FTC listed pre-checked boxes and hard-to-find disclosures among long-standing tactics used to get money or data from consumers. The same design choices would weaken a research-use confirmation.

Require an active click. If the buyer tries to pay without confirming, stop the order and explain in plain words what is missing. Do not save the choice from a previous order and apply it automatically to the next one.

Record the exact version

A confirmation is only as good as your record of it. Store, for each order:

• the exact text shown
• a version number for that text
• the time the buyer confirmed
• the order and buyer it applies to

When you change the wording, create a new version rather than editing the old one, so past orders still point to the words those buyers saw. Buyer attestations, explained covers why this matters and what an attestation cannot prove, and versioning your policies and checkout statements covers change logs.

Repeat it after the order

The confirmation should not disappear once the buyer pays. Repeat the statement, or a short reference to it, in the order confirmation email and on the receipt or invoice, using the same words as checkout. That gives the buyer a copy of what they agreed to, and it keeps your paperwork consistent if anyone reviews the order later. If the wording changes, update these templates at the same time as checkout, so a buyer never receives a different version from the one they confirmed.

Make it accessible

Some buyers use a keyboard, a screen reader or a magnifier. The W3C's tutorial on labeling form controls recommends associating text with its control using the label element. It notes that labels are customarily placed to the right of checkboxes in left-to-right languages, and that a properly associated label gives a larger area to click.

• Associate the full statement, or a short summary of it, with the checkbox as its label.
• Make sure the control can be reached and ticked with a keyboard.
• Write error messages in text that says what to do, rather than relying on color alone.
• Use a readable text size and enough contrast.

Test it before you publish

1. Read the checkout on a phone and on a desktop. Is the full statement visible?
2. Try to pay without ticking the box. Is the order stopped, with a clear message?
3. Complete the checkout with only a keyboard, then with a screen reader.
4. Check your records. Does the order show the text version the buyer confirmed?
5. Compare the wording with your product pages, labels and terms. Do they agree?

What a confirmation cannot do

A research-use confirmation is the buyer's own statement. It does not verify who they are or what they will do, and it does not cancel out claims made elsewhere on your site. Use it alongside a researcher gate, buyer checks and manual review. Claddr presents a signed statement at checkout, versions it whenever the wording changes, and links every signature to the exact text the buyer saw.