Because many laws confer certain benefits and rights on ‘consumers’ as opposed to other customers, for example, the Uniform Commercial Code precludes certain warranty disclaimers for consumer purchases, it is important to be aware of what a ‘consumer’ generally is in law. Under the UCC a consumer is an individual who has entered into an agreement or made a purchase “primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.”
Under the Consumer Rights Directive, in European law, a consumer is any person (but not a company) who is entering into a transaction “for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.” This is arguably a wider definition than that of the UCC.
However, it is not usually the case that any product purchased for business purposes will be a “consumer” transaction – thus incidentals and products that can be used for both consumer purposes and business purposes, such as for example cell-phones, may still entitle a business user to be treated as a consumer.