Omnibus Directive price reduction rules: what counts as a price reduction

Why the scope question comes first

Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC, the Price Indication Directive, was inserted by Article 2 of the Omnibus Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/2161). Its first paragraph sets the trigger:

The 30-day lowest price in paragraph 2 only matters once that trigger is met. How to calculate it is covered in our 30-day prior price rule guide, and the Omnibus Directive guide for Shopify covers the rest of the directive. This page answers the earlier question: is what you are about to publish an announcement of a price reduction at all?

The directive does not define the phrase. The European Commission's guidance on Article 6a (Notice 2021/C 526/02, OJ C 526, 29.12.2021) does. Section 1.1 says Article 6a applies to promotional statements by the seller that it has reduced the price that it charges for the goods. That gives a working test with three parts:

• A promotional statement, not a silent price change.
• By the seller, about its own price, not an RRP or a competitor's price.
• That the price has been reduced, stated or implied.

One limit sits outside the test. Section 1.1 of the guidance reads “products” in the Price Indication Directive as movable goods, so Article 6a does not apply to services, digital services or digital content at EU level. Some countries go further; our section on services explains where.

Omnibus Directive price reduction: the announcements that count

Sections 1.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of the guidance give the forms an announcement can take. For an online store, these are in scope:

• Percentage or amount off.“20% off”, “EUR 10 off”, a “-30%” badge on a product card.
• Was/now and strikethrough prices.A new lower price shown with a previously applied higher one, whether written as “now EUR 50, was EUR 100” or shown crossed out.
• “Sale” claims with no number. The guidance says Article 6a applies regardless of whether the price reduction announcement indicates a measurable price reduction. “Sales price”, “special offers” and “Black Friday offers” are its own examples.
• Other promotional techniques.The guidance gives “buy today without paying the VAT”, which tells the consumer the reduction equals the VAT.
• Introductory and starting prices.Presenting the current price as a “starting” price and a higher price as the upcoming normal price is listed as an announcement. Section 2.1 closes the loophole that follows: if you then charge the higher price for less than 30 days and announce a reduction, the prior price is still the initial starting price.
• General announcements.“20% off everything today” or “30% off goods with a blue dot” are allowed. Under section 2.2 the prior price does not have to sit on the banner itself, but it must appear for each item at the point of sale, which online means the price section of each product.
• Codes and member offers that are really for everyone.Section 2.3 names “Today 20% off when using the code XYZ” and “This weekend 20% off on everything for loyalty members only” as covered where the code or the programme is accessible to or used by many or the majority of customers.

Once a practice is in scope, any percentage you show has to be calculated from the prior price (guidance, section 2.1), a point the Court of Justice confirmed in C-330/23, Aldi Süd (a dated example is in “50% off” what?). You may add another reference price, such as your regular price outside promotions, only if it is clearly explained and does not distract from the prior price. The display details are in how to display the Omnibus price on Shopify.

What is not a price reduction under Article 6a

Every item below is still subject to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD, Directive 2005/29/EC), so “outside Article 6a” never means “anything goes”.

• Price changes you do not announce. Section 1.1: Article 6a does not deal with, and does not restrict in any way, price fluctuations and decreases that involve no announcement. You can lower a price quietly. That lower price then becomes part of your 30-day history.
• General low-price claims.“Best prices” or “lowest prices” compare your offer with other sellers without invoking a reduction, so they sit under the UCPD only (section 1.1).
• Price comparisons.Comparing with the manufacturer's recommended retail price (RRP, UVP in German) or with another trader's price is a different technique from a reduction and is outside Article 6a (sections 1.1 and 3). Competitor comparisons also fall under the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC (footnote 21 of the guidance).
• Tied and conditional offers.“Buy one, get two” and “30% off when buying three” are the guidance's own examples of offers outside Article 6a (section 3).
• Loyalty programmes. Discount cards or vouchers that give a member a reduction on all products, or on identified ranges, during extended continuous periods (the guidance mentions 6 months or a year), and points schemes, are outside Article 6a (section 2.3).
• Real personalised reductions. A voucher earned by a previous purchase, a reduction on joining the loyalty programme, on a birthday or a wedding, or a reduction given at the time of purchase that was not announced in advance (section 2.3).
• Cash-back from a manufacturer. When a third party that is not the seller promises to refund part of the price on request, Article 6a does not apply, but the guidance warns that cash-back must not be used to circumvent it (section 1.2).

The RRP trap

An RRP comparison only stays outside Article 6a while shoppers read it as a comparison. Section 3 of the guidance, referring to section 2.8.2 of the UCPD guidance, says a seller must pay utmost attention that the average consumer does not perceive the comparison as a price reduction. Where it is perceived that way, the practice can breach both the UCPD and Article 6a. A struck-through RRP next to your price, with a percentage badge, looks exactly like a reduction. If you want an RRP on the page, label it as an RRP in words and keep it visually separate from your own price history.

Cases the guidance does not name

Some common practices are not mentioned by name. For these we give our reading of the principles above, not settled law:

• Bundles and free gifts.A gift with purchase, or a set priced below the sum of its parts, does not by itself say the price of any one good has been cut. That places it closer to the combined offers in section 3. If you show a struck-through “was” price on the bundle itself, you are announcing a reduction on the bundle and should treat it as one.
• Spend-threshold vouchers.“EUR 10 off orders over EUR 60” is conditional in the same way as “30% off when buying three”. Product pages that show a reduced price because of the voucher are a different matter.
• Price matching.A promise to match a lower competitor price is a comparison with another trader, and a match granted to one customer on request resembles a reduction applied at the time of purchase without prior announcement. Advertising matched prices as “now reduced” to everyone brings you back into Article 6a.
• Newsletter welcome codes. Section 2.3 treats a reduction on signing up to a loyalty programme as personalised, but also covers codes made available to potentially all visitors. A pop-up offering every visitor 10% off sits between the two. The cautious course is to count the resulting price in your history.

Is this a price reduction under Art. 6a? A quick decision table

“Depends” means the answer turns on facts explained in the right-hand column. Section references are to the Commission guidance.

Outside Article 6a is not outside the law

Section 3 of the guidance explains the split. Under Article 3(4) of the UCPD, the more specific Article 6a prevails for the aspects it governs: whether the prior price and the reduction are correct. Everything else about a price promotion remains under the UCPD, and in particular its Article 6(1)(d) on misleading claims about the existence of a specific price advantage. National authorities may also apply the UCPD to a practice that breaches Article 6a where it is also an unfair practice under the UCPD, in particular a misleading claim about a price advantage. The guidance names two misleading aspects the UCPD can catch even where the prior price is correct:

• Sales that never end. Excessively long reduction periods compared with the time the goods are sold at full price.
• “Up to 70% off” when only a few items are reduced by 70% and the rest by much less.

How regulators size penalties for both kinds of breach is covered in Omnibus fines explained.

How Shopify features map to the rule

Each Shopify price feature tends to land on one side of the line.

• Compare-at price. Most themes render it as a strikethrough next to the price, often with a sale badge. That is a was/now announcement, so the struck-through figure must be the legal prior price. It is a manually entered price field with no link to the prices you actually charged; see compare-at price vs the Omnibus prior price.
• Automatic discounts.A product or order discount applied to every shopper, advertised on the site, is a general reduction announcement (section 2.2). The prior price has to appear with each product it applies to, and the reduced price enters your history. Automatic discounts of the “buy X, get Y” type are conditional offers.
• Discount codes. A code published in a banner is available to potentially all consumers visiting your shop, so section 2.3 puts it in scope; a code sent to your whole list is, in our reading, also likely to count where many or most of your customers receive it. A code limited to one customer, or issued after a purchase or for a birthday, is a personalised reduction. How codes affect the prior price on later sales is covered in successive and overlapping discounts.
• Markets and channels. Where you sell at different prices in different channels, the prior price is the lowest price applied in that channel (section 2.1). Our display guide covers Shopify Markets.

For the busiest promotional period of the year, the Black Friday Omnibus guide applies all of this to a real campaign calendar.

Member State options in Article 6a(3) to (5)

Three paragraphs let each country adjust the rule: different rules for goods that deteriorate or expire rapidly (paragraph 3), a shorter reference period for goods on the market for less than 30 days (paragraph 4), and a fixed prior price for a progressively increased reduction (paragraph 5). They change how the prior price is set (for perishable goods, possibly whether one is needed at all), not whether a practice is an announcement. Section 4 of the guidance reads them narrowly. Check which options your markets adopted in our Omnibus rules by country table, and see successive discounts for paragraph 5 in practice.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• The 30-day prior price rule: the complete guide
• Successive and overlapping discounts under EU Omnibus
• Shopify compare-at price vs the Omnibus prior price
• The EU Omnibus Directive for Shopify merchants
• The free Omnibus prior-price calculator