Correspondence

Using urgency and price reduction claims online

How to avoid misleading or putting unfair pressure on consumers when making urgency and price reduction claims online.

• From: Competition and Markets Authority
• Published: 29 March 2023

Documents

Urgency and price reduction claims: compliance advice for online businesses (the open letter)

PDF, 2.77 MB, 24 pages

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Urgency and price reduction claims: examples of non-compliance

PDF, 2.27 MB, 19 pages

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Details

This letter explains how businesses must be transparent when making urgency claims or price reduction claims online.

It covers examples of common claims that online businesses make to shoppers which may break the law, for example by misleading or putting unfair pressure on them. These include:

• ‘urgency claims’ (any countdown timers, scarcity or ‘act fast’ messages)

• ‘price reduction claims’ (any discount or special offer price that refers to a higher comparison price)

The letter is for (amongst others) online retailers, online marketplaces, online intermediaries, and businesses that help clients to build online stores. It is not legal advice and businesses are responsible for complying with the law.

Find out more about the Competition and Market Authority (CMA)’s work to tackle potentially harmful online selling practices.

Published 29 March 2023