How to ensure your online sales promotions are compliant
How you can make sure your online sales promotions are compliant and do not mislead consumers.
If you sell goods, services or digital content online to consumers in the UK, you must ensure that your online sales promotions do not mislead consumers or give a false sense of a deadline. Such sales promotions are known as price reduction claims and urgency claims.
What is a price reduction claim?
A price reduction claim uses comparison pricing to highlight a deal, such as "now 拢80, was 拢150." However, if the higher price doesn鈥檛 reflect the actual, usual price, it can mislead consumers about the savings.
Another common example is a claim like "50% off everything" displayed on your homepage. If there are hidden conditions (e.g., requiring a minimum spend) that aren鈥檛 clearly stated, this can also be deceptive.
What is an urgency claim?
An urgency claim implies that a consumer must act quickly to take advantage of an offer. Examples include:
- countdown timers - for instance, 鈥渙ffer ends in 2 hours 10 minutes,鈥 but the promotion continues after the timer expires
- low stock alerts - for example, 鈥渙nly 5 left in stock,鈥 when there is no actual stock shortage or when more items will soon be available
How to make your online sales promotions compliant
You should review your online practices to ensure they meet the requirements of consumer protection law and make changes if needed. As part of your review, you should:
- look at all online activities including advertising, website and apps
- ensure anyone working on the claims for your online activity understands the legal requirements
- keep records as evidence to verify the claims you make
- ensure price promotions are verified, special offer prices end when the promotion ends, and online advertising is correct
If you sell products or services on an online marketplace, ensure the information you get from third party sellers is correct.
Businesses that trade with individual consumers should also be aware of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.
Review examples and read the Competition and Markets Authority .