How to Handle Ecommerce Product Compliance

For growing ecommerce brands, product compliance can feel like an afterthought—until it derails an entire shipment or triggers a costly recall. Unlike creative or marketing risks, compliance failures often strike behind the scenes: a missed certification, incorrect label, or expired product can block inventory from clearing customs or leave brands open to liability. These aren't just operational headaches—they’re risks that can freeze sales, damage customer trust, and attract regulatory attention.

As sales channels diversify and order volume scales, the margin for error shrinks. Brands that treat ecommerce product compliance as part of their core operations—not a box to tick—stay ahead of these issues and protect both revenue and reputation. Here's how to do just that:

What Counts as Product Compliance?

Product compliance refers to the set of regulations and industry standards a product must meet to be legally sold and shipped within a given market. These rules can vary widely by region, product category, and sales channel—and noncompliance can lead to penalties, inventory holds, or forced removal from marketplaces.

Labeling Requirements

At a minimum, most products must be labeled with accurate information about country of origin, ingredients or materials, intended use and warnings, and manufacturer or distributor contact details.

Regulators and marketplaces may have strict guidelines on label placement, language, and font size. For example, health products in Canada require bilingual labels, while EU directives mandate CE marks for many categories.

Safety Standards

Beyond labels, many categories require compliance with national or international safety standards. These standards often dictate things like electrical output, material composition, flammability resistance, or choke hazard tests—depending on the product. Compliance here isn’t optional. Without it, customs may seize goods, or platforms like Amazon and Walmart may suspend listings without notice.

Import and Export Rules

Global shipping introduces a different compliance layer. Certain products may be restricted, require special permits, or face additional tariffs based on material, function, or destination country. For instance, lithium batteries have transport restrictions; supplements must pass FDA or equivalent reviews; apparel with certain dyes may be banned in the EU. 

Ecommerce teams often overlook these until a carrier flags a shipment—or worse, blocks it at the border.

High-Risk Categories

While all products should be compliant, some categories carry heightened scrutiny. These require a deeper compliance framework from the start.

Supplements and Consumables

Anything ingested by the consumer is held to stricter regulatory standards, often including:

• Facility registration with health agencies
• Certificates of analysis (COAs) for ingredients
• GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certifications

Skirting these requirements—even unintentionally—can result in bans, legal claims, or fines.

Children’s Products

Products intended for infants or children (toys, clothing, accessories) must meet safety standards related to choking hazards, lead content, and flammability. In the U.S., items must comply with Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) rules and often require third-party testing.

Electronics and Devices

Electrical products must meet compliance standards for power output, RF emissions, and user safety. These standards differ by market; FCC for the U.S., CE for the EU, PSE for Japan, and RCM for Australia.

Failing to secure and maintain proper certifications can result in delisting, shipping delays, or customer returns due to damaged or unsafe units.

Documentation and Audit Trails

Compliance isn’t just about meeting standards—it’s about being able to prove it. That means building and maintaining documentation that can be provided at any time to regulators, marketplaces, or fulfillment partners.

MSDS and Technical Sheets

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provide details on chemical ingredients, potential hazards, and safe handling instructions. These are critical for cleaning products, cosmetics, supplements, or any item that contains regulated substances. Shipping partners and 3PLs often require MSDS documentation to classify products and prevent warehouse storage violations.

Certifications and Testing Reports

Staying compliant means being able to produce third-party test results or certification documents for FDA or Health Canada approval. CE, FCC, or UL certification, ASTM and ISO standards for materials or construction also have to be substantiated. Documents may be requested by customs authorities, retail partners, or platform compliance teams at any time.

Version Control and Expiry Management

Regulatory requirements evolve. Products may need to be relabeled or reformulated to maintain compliance.

Keeping clean records of version changes helps teams:

• Track which batch falls under which regulatory standard
• Prove adherence to evolving rules
• Avoid reshipping expired or noncompliant inventory

This documentation also supports quality control and protects brands in the event of disputes or inspections.

Role of 3PLs In Ecommerce Product Compliance

Your fulfillment partner plays a key role in maintaining compliance, especially when it comes to storage, traceability, and outbound logistics. A 3PL with robust systems can serve as an operational safety net.

Lot Tracking and Traceability

Lot tracking allows brands to trace each unit back to a production run or supplier batch.

This is essential for:

• Recalls or defect investigations
• Ensuring product freshness
• Managing inventory aging

If a batch of supplements is flagged for contamination or a toy part fails testing, lot-level data enables brands to act quickly without pulling all inventory.

Barcode Scanning and Storage Controls

A 3PL should be able to validate barcode formats (e.g., UPC, EAN, GS1) and scan each SKU into storage by lot or expiry date. This prevents picking the wrong version of a product, shipping expired goods, and mislabeling inventory as compliant when it isn’t. Without barcode discipline, it becomes impossible to track or control the flow of compliant inventory.

Expiry Management

For products with shelf lives—like food, cosmetics, or pharmaceuticals—accurate expiry tracking is non-negotiable. A fulfillment partner like Shipfusion provides FIFO (First In, First Out) or FEFO (First Expired, First Out) inventory logic alongside automated expiry flagging and disposal rules to reduce waste, protect customers, and keep compliance records clean.

Ecommerce Product Compliance Starts With Product Clarity

Compliance isn’t just a regulatory burden—it’s a foundational part of brand reliability. Customers expect the products they receive to be safe, properly labeled, and legally cleared for sale. Ecommerce brands that overlook this risk product removals, customer harm, and long-term damage to their reputation.

To stay ahead:

• Review your full product catalog for category-specific regulations
• Map out compliance documentation required by region
• Confirm supplier certifications and expiration dates

Ensure your 3PL partner can support traceability, storage compliance, and outbound controls Shipfusion works with brands across regulated categories, from supplements to electronics, to ensure compliant fulfillment from intake to delivery. If you're scaling into new markets or updating your product lines, now is the time to audit your compliance workflows.

Request a free consultation to identify risks, clarify requirements, and make sure your logistics stack supports your regulatory obligations.