Omnibus Act: What Needs to Change!

On May 28, 2022, the European directive known as the Omnibus Directive went into effect. This directive addresses three commercial practices: door-to-door sales, online reviews, and promotions.
The Omnibus Directive imposes stricter penalties for misleading promotions, fake reviews, and abusive door-to-door sales in order to improve consumer protection, particularly for those who use digital platforms or marketplaces.

Many of you have not yet implemented the OMNIBUS law on the e-commerce sites you manage. Compliance with this law is monitored by the DGCCRF. The agency has been checking for compliance with these new rules during sales events such as the winter sales, and is taking a strict stance during this summer sale season.

What should be done to comply with this law?

To comply with this law, the seller must display the product’s price before applying a discount. This previously displayed price must correspond to the lowest price charged by the seller during the 30 days preceding the discount. In cases of successive price reductions, the previously displayed price must be the price charged before the first reduction was applied. This requirement applies to all price reduction announcements, whether made online or in stores.

The text accompanying the crossed-out price is optional; what matters is that the crossed-out price displayed corresponds to the lowest price offered in the store during the 30 days prior to the discount.

What are the penalties?

Violation of this law—and thus this business practice—is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of €300,000.

In addition, for violations deemed to be “large-scale or large-scale at the European Union level,” the fine may be up to 4 percent of the average annual revenue of the company in question. (This amount is calculated based on the last three known annual revenues.)

What DATASOLUTION Offers You

Our commitment to service motivates us to offer you a solution to ensure compliance with this law. Our teams (project manager, sales manager, etc.) are therefore available to work with you to assess the feasibility and implementation costs of this new legal requirement for displaying promotional prices.

It is highly likely that the authorities will issue guidance on the implementation of this law before the next sales and promotional periods, so we recommend that you bring your e-commerce site into compliance as soon as possible.

Don’t panic! If your LEGACY system doesn’t allow you to manage this history, our teams can help you implement a PIM or back-office solution that complies with this new legal requirement for price display.