The European Commission and 23 European consumer protection authorities have published the results of a screening (‘sweep’) of online discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) is a network of national authorities responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. Under the coordination of the European Commission, they collaborate to tackle infringements of consumer law occurring in the Single Market.
The objective of this sweep was to assess whether discounts and pricing practices during major sales, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, were compliant with EU consumer law. Consumer protection authorities checked 314 online traders and found that 30% referenced discounts incorrectly. Under the Price Indications Directive, when a business announces a discount, the price of reference must be the lowest price applied in the past 30 days. The promotion of prices are also regulated by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
The authorities also assessed other tactics that may influence consumer’s purchasing decisions:
- 36% attempted to add optional items to consumers’ baskets. Of those, four in ten did so without clearly requesting consent;
- 34% displayed price comparisons. Six in ten of those did not clearly explain the reference for their price comparison.
- 18% used pressure-selling techniques, such as claiming a product is running out or using countdown timers. The CPC identified that more than half of these cases were misleading. A pressure-selling technique can be considered misleading, for example, when its claim of scarcity is fake.
- 10% used “drip pricing”, where extra fees or added late in the purchasing process, such as shipping or service fees.
These tactics are illegal practices under EU consumer law and national consumer authorities may take action against the relevant businesses.
These practices are also on the radar of the CMA in the UK and it recently began investigations into various companies across several sectors on pricing, adding items to baskets and using pressure selling tactics online.
