The EU "Omnibus" Directive comes into force also on Amazon

The Omnibus Directive, also known as Enforcement and Modernisation Directive 2019/2161, is a law introduced by the European Union (EU) to strengthen consumer rights and increase transparency in retail and e-commerce. Its main objective is to enhance consumer protection across EU member states.

One significant change brought about by this directive is the requirement for retailers to provide more transparent information regarding price reductions. When offering discounts, retailers must now inform consumers not only about the discounted price or the discount percentage but also about the previous price the product was sold at within the past 30 days.

Additionally, the directive introduces other important measures affecting retail and e-commerce:

• Extended merchant information: retailers must provide customers with detailed information about the merchants, ensuring transparency regarding the actual seller from whom they are purchasing a product.
• Authentic customer reviews: fake customer reviews or endorsements are strictly prohibited - all customer reviews must be genuine and authentic.
• Personalized pricing: retailers are obligated to inform customers about the use of personalized pricing methods, such as price optimization algorithms, which may result in customers receiving different prices based on automated decision-making and consumer profiles.

The Omnibus Directive came into effect on January 7, 2020. EU member states had until November 28, 2021, to publish their plans for implementing the legislation. The laws enforcing the directive became effective on May 28, 2022.

On June 6th, however, the directive specifically targeted Amazon, with regulations concerning Vendors and Sellers offering deals for Prime Day. To qualify for the "Offers" badge, merchants must ensure that their prices are at least 5% lower than the minimum price recorded within the last 30 days (the reference price for the discount calculation will be the lowest price observed within the previous 30 days).

In general, this type of directive will have implications in the promotional strategies of all accounts: therefore we recommend to carefully manage the pricing policies especially in this period.