The Consumer Agency has recently taken significant steps to protect consumers from misleading pricing strategies. Many retailers have been found to increase regular prices in an attempt to make discounts appear bigger than they really are, while not showing the real price evolution on their pages. To prevent this, the Swedish Consumer Agency has started conducting in-depth audits of companies to ensure compliance with the EU Omnibus Directive.
As of 1 September last year, the new rule requires companies to be transparent about the lowest price a product has been sold for in the 30 days before a price cut. The aim of the new directive is to create transparency in pricing and prevent consumers from being deceived by misleading discounts.
The Consumer Agency will examine several key aspects during its review:
- Previous lowest price: Retailers must indicate the lowest price the product was sold for the month before the price cut.
- Location of the previous lowest price: Clarification on where this lowest price was offered.
- Reason for price reduction: Retailers need to specify the reason for the reduced price.
- Use of reference prices: Companies will be assessed on whether they use one or more reference prices in their pricing strategies.
This comes from the EU Omnibus Directive, which provides for fines of up to 4% of the company’s annual turnover for data breaches or up to at least €2 million in cases where turnover information is not available. In addition, Member States may impose higher fines when implementing the Directive.
To help businesses comply with these rules and ensure they are transparent in their pricing, we have created the Qala Product Price History plugin for WooCommerce. This tool offers a practical solution for WooCommerce sellers to help them fulfil the requirements of the Omnibus Directive.
The plugin offers the following features to help you comply with the directive:
- Price variation graph: It shows a visual representation of the product’s price changes over the last 30 days, enabling businesses to observe price trends.
- Lowest Price Indicator: The plugin includes a text feature that indicates the lowest price the product has sold for in the last month, ensuring complete transparency for consumers.
With the implementation of the Qala Product Price History plugin, consumers can now make more informed purchasing decisions with the assurance that retailers are held accountable for their pricing strategies. Contact us today if you want to ensure you are compliant with the EU Omnibus Directive and that the price history on your website is accurate with the implementation of our Qala Price History Plugin!