Since June 2022, a new annex to the consumer protection law has entered into force in the European Union, limiting the use of discounts. The article will explain how it affected the promo activities on Joom.

Please note that the changes only affect customers from the EU.

1. Discounts and strikethrough prices

According to the newest regulation, a price reduction can be announced only if a product’s current price is less than its lowest price within a period of 30 days. In this case, the lowest price is considered the “prior price” and appears as a strikethrough price. The current price is also indicated on the product, and the amount of discount is calculated according to the strikethrough price.

Example:

The regular price for a product is €10. Its lowest price within 30 days before the current promo is €8. To be considered as a discount, the price must be below €8. Therefore, the price of €9 was not shown as a discount but the current price €7 is shown as a discount off the €8 MSRP (the lowest price).

How are the discounts displayed on Joom now?

• MSRP from merchants will still be visible for users;
• The merchant must independently fill in the lowest price of a product as the MSRP (the lowest price is the price that was the lowest in a period of 30 days before the current promo);
• The amount of discount is calculated automatically based on the MSRP;
• If the current price is greater than or equal to the lowest price within the last 30 days, the merchant should not fill in the MSRP.

2. Regular prices instead of discounts

Merchants may still lower their prices based on the regular prices even so the current price is greater than the lowest price within the last 30 days. However, due to EU regulations, it cannot be displayed as a discount.

Example:

10 days ago the price (€9) was lower than the regular price (€10), but still higher than the lowest price in the last 30 days (€8).

In such cases, Joom will still notify customers about the price benefits they get from buying the product so that they can appreciate it. Now we are testing several options for displaying the benefits. In general we plan to display the current price along with the regular price of the product instead of a discount. 

How does it influence the promotions?

• If the current price is greater than or equal to the lowest price within the last 30 days, the merchant should not fill in the MSRP;
• If the current price is greater than or equal to the lowest price within the last 30 days, Joom will display the current price along with the regular price of the product (the price before price reduction). This way users can evaluate the benefits of the current price. The discount amount or the strikethrough price will not be displayed;
• It is possible that in the future Joom will hide the MSRP for the users if the current price is not the lowest value in the last 30 days. However, this solution has not yet been implemented.

3. Limit on promotion participation

To comply with EU regulations, a product on Joom may participate in promotion for a minor part of the time. In other words, the product must be sold at the regular price for at least half of the days in a month.

If at the moment the product is participating in the promotion for more than 50% of calendar days, the product must be sold at its regular price. In this case, the merchant should set the regular price for the product and not fill in the MSRP.

To learn more on Joom promotions please refer to the article "Promotions".