Omnibus Law: What is expected to change!
Since May 28, 2022, the European directive known as Omnibus has come into effect. This directive addresses three commercial practices: door-to-door sales, online reviews, and promotions.
The Omnibus Law imposes stricter penalties for deceptive promotions, fake reviews, and abusive door-to-door sales in order to enhance consumer protection, especially for those who use digital platforms or marketplaces.
Many of you have not yet implemented the OMNIBUS law on the eCommerce sites you manage. Compliance with this law is monitored by the DGCCRF. They have verified compliance with these new rules during price reduction operations such as winter sales and are uncompromising during this period of summer sales.
What to do to comply with this law?
To comply with this law, the seller must indicate the product price before a discount is applied. This indicated previous price should correspond to the lowest price practiced by the seller in the 30 days preceding the discount. In cases of successive price reductions, the displayed previous price should be the one applied before the first reduction. This measure applies to all price reduction advertisements, whether they are conducted online or in physical stores.
The accompanying statement with the crossed-out price is optional; the important thing is that the displayed crossed-out price corresponds to the lowest price practiced in the shop during the 30 days preceding the discount.
What are the sanctions?
Non-compliance with this law and thus this commercial practice can result in up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of up to €300,000.
Furthermore, for offenses deemed to be of “large scale or large scale at the level of the European Union,” the amount of the fine can reach up to 4% of the average annual turnover of the implicated company. (Amount calculated based on the last three known annual turnovers).
What DATASOLUTION Offers You
Our commitment to service drives us to propose the implementation of a compliance solution for this law. Our teams (project manager, Sales Manager, etc.) are at your disposal to work with you on the feasibility and implementation effort of this new legal display of promotional prices.
It is highly likely that authorities will communicate about the enforcement of this law before the upcoming sale/promotion periods. We recommend that you bring your eCommerce site into compliance as soon as possible.
No need to worry! If your LEGACY system doesn’t allow you to manage this history, our teams can suggest the implementation of a PIM or Back Office solution in line with this new legal obligation for price display.
