The Swedish Consumer Agency has recently taken a significant step to protect shoppers from deceptive pricing strategies. Many retailers have been found to inflate regular prices, making discounts appear larger than they actually are and failing to show price history on their pages. In response, the Swedish Consumer Agency is conducting a thorough review of businesses to ensure compliance with the Omnibus EU Directive.
Effective from September 1 last year, the new provision mandates that companies disclose the lowest price a product has been sold for in the 30 days preceding a price reduction. This initiative aims to create transparency in pricing and prevent consumers from falling victim to misleading discounts.
The Swedish Consumer Agency will scrutinize several key aspects during its review:
- Previous Lowest Price: Retailers must indicate the lowest price the product was sold for in the month before the price reduction.
- Location of the Previous Lowest Price: Clarification on where this lowest price was offered.
- Basis of Price Reduction: Retailers need to specify the foundation on which the reduced price is determined.
- Use of Reference Prices: Businesses will be assessed on whether they employ one or more reference prices in their pricing strategies.
This comes in light of the Omnibus EU Directive which mandates penalties of up to 4% of your company’s annual turnover for data breaches, or up to at least 2 million EUR in the case where information on turnover isn’t available. Additionally, member states can impose higher fines when implementing the directive.
To assist businesses in adhering to these regulations and ensuring transparent pricing practices, we’ve created the Qala Product Price History for WooCommerce plugin. This tool provides a practical solution for WooCommerce vendors, helping them meet the requirements set forth by the Omnibus Directive, a mandate from the European Union aimed at safeguarding e-commerce consumers.
The plugin offers the following features to comply with the directive:
- Price Variation Graph: It displays a visual representation of the product’s price changes over the last 30 days, allowing businesses to observe pricing trends.
- Lowest Price Indicator: The plugin includes a text feature indicating the lowest price the product has been sold for in the past month, ensuring complete transparency for consumers.
With the implementation of the Qala Product Price History plug-in, consumers can now make more informed purchasing decisions, armed with the knowledge that retailers are held accountable for their pricing strategies. Contact us today if you want to ensure that you are complying with the Ominbus EU Directive and that the price history on your website is accurate with the implementation of our Qala Price History Plugin!