UK shops warned for hiding delivery fees before Black Friday and Christmas
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published an open letter to UK retailers, warning against unclear pricing and hiding delivery fee costs.
Where a customer must pay a delivery charge to buy a product, the total price including the minimum mandatory delivery charge must be shown to the customer throughout the sales process, the regulator said.
“We recognise that many businesses across the UK have taken steps since the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) came into force to ensure that they comply with the DMCC Act’s price transparency requirements.
“We welcome those changes. Increasing price transparency benefits consumers across the UK. We are concerned, however, that some businesses remain non-compliant in how they present delivery charges to consumers.”
What the law requires
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) requires that if the price of a product is being provided to a consumer that price must be the total price, including mandatory delivery or collection fees.
The total price must be provided at every stage of the purchase process where a price is given, including advertising, product pages, carts and baskets, checkout and payment pages.
Where an e-commerce website or app allows customers to purchase multiple products together (for example an online clothing retailer), it is often the case that a single delivery charge applies to the order regardless of how many items are purchased.
In those situations, the retailer must still provide the customer with the total price of the products, including any mandatory delivery or collection fees, throughout the shopping process. The requirement to provide the total price does not preclude the presentation of other information such as a breakdown of how the price is calculated or the cost of the delivery fee that is included within it.
Retailers could, for example, automatically display the price for a product both including and excluding delivery, the CMA said.
“Where a retailer has optional delivery charges, the retailer must tell customers clearly throughout the process that these charges apply. If the amount cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, retailers must explain that an additional charge may be payable,” it said.
“Customers should not have to search through separate pages, hidden menus or expandable sections to find this information. Additional information is provided in our guidance on pricing transparency.”
Online marketplaces, comparison sites, and search engines
The regulator noted that the requirement to make complete pricing information available to customers applies not just to shops, but also to online marketplace operators, comparison sites and search engines.
“When, for example, an online marketplace displays a list of items sold by different traders, each of which can be purchased individually and has its own delivery charge, the price of delivery should be included in the total price of each product.
“As for other types of retail sites, traders can also present other pricing information to the consumer, such as the base cost (exclusive of delivery), provided that the total price is presented in a clear and timely manner and in a way that the consumer is likely to see it,” it said.
