EU Omnibus directive glossary and FAQs
Here you will find all of the key terms and FAQs to explain the pricing regulations Zalando follows as part of the EU Omnibus directive.
This is a glossary and FAQs about the EU Omnibus directive. For more information on how this affects you, please refer to this article instead.
Name | Description |
|---|---|
Original Price (customer-facing) | Original Price refers to the price at which the article was first listed on Zalando. This is a term introduced on the customer-facing Zalando price display in the context of the EU Omnibus Directive. This term is activated on the Zalando shop to enable price comparisons, whenever there is a promotional price/red price for an article. |
Black Price/Regular Price (partner-facing) | Black Price is the price at which an article is being sold on Zalando without enabling price comparisons. ‘Regular Price’ is the field that you fill out when you are submitting the Black Price for an article listed on Zalando. |
Red Price/Promotional Price/Sale Price (partner-facing) | Red Price is the price at which an article is being sold at Zalando with a price comparison enabled. The Red Price is always lower than the Original Price. ‘Promotional Price’ is the field that you fill out when you are submitting the Red Price for an article listed on Zalando. |
Current Price (customer-facing) | Current price is the price that the customer has to pay when purchasing an article. The Current Price can be a Black Price or a Red Price. |
Last Lowest Price (customer-facing) | Last Lowest Price refers to the lowest price for which the article was listed on Zalando in the past 30 day period (rolling), inclusive of any current day price changes. |
Three Price Display (customer-facing) | This is a new price display deployed as part of the EU Omnibus Directive. As per the Directive, any announcement of a price reduction shall indicate the lowest price offered within the last 30 days. The 3 prices shown would be ‘Original Price’, ‘Last Lowest Price’ and the current Red Price. |
FAQs
1. What do I, as a partner, need to do to ensure compliance with the EU Omnibus Directive?
The EU Omnibus Directive does not restrict partners from setting their prices. In fact, due to mandatory competition law requirements, you remain free to set your prices at any time.
From a price display perspective, Zalando will ensure that our partners' can use price display options that allow the partners to display prices in line with the Directive across the full shop.
However, when it comes to submitting prices, you as a partner have the obligation to ensure that the prices you set are in accordance with the Omnibus Directive. This is of paramount importance when submitting the first price for an article, which would be considered as the ‘Original Price’ against which all price reductions are shown on the Zalando shop.
This means whenever a ‘Promotional Price’ is submitted for an article, the Regular/Black Price must be the launch price submitted for the article to enable price comparisons. Submitting a different price might be unlawful and must be avoided.
2. When does the article show a ‘Three Price Display’?
In case a price reduction is announced, the EU Omnibus Directive obliges that we display the lowest prior price of the last 30 days. For example, if the article has an ‘Original Price’ of €100, and the price was reduced to €90 on Day 7, and reduced again to a ‘Current Price’ of €70 on Day 15, the Directive requires that the prior price of €90 is also shown to customers.
3. What happens if I want to update the Current Price/Promotional Price of an item?
You as a partner are free to update the Promotional Price of an item and this would be reflected on the Zalando shop as the Current Price.
If you add a Promotional Price, we would use one of the Omnibus price displays, i.e., compare the Promotional Price (also known as the Red Price or Current Price) with the Original Price either via a Two Price or Three Price Display.
4. What happens if I want to update the Black Price/Regular Price of an item?
You are free to set the Black Price/Regular Price of an article. In this case, the price display would only show one price - the current sale price as a Black Price.
However, when you add a Red Price/Promotional Price the Black Price/Regular Price field should show the ‘Original Price’ or the price at which the article was first live on Zalando. As partners have full control over their prices, it remains your responsibility to ensure that the ‘Original Price’ is reflected correctly. Zalando will monitor the prices for deviations and reserves the right to disable items that violate the pricing rules.
5. What is an Original Price?
Original Price is the first price submitted for the article when it goes live on Zalando. If an article has a Promotional Price/Red Price, then the Current Price (= Red Price) is compared to the Original Price as a reference price. For example, if the Original Price of the article was €100 and the Promotional Price is €80, then both prices would be displayed to the customer via the Two Price Display.
This does not happen in case the article is selling at a Black Price which is not equal to the first price of an article. For example, if the Original Price of the article was €100 and due to inflation, the Regular Price of the article is now €110, then the price display would only show the single price of €110 as the Current Price.
The comparison to Original Price is only done in cases when the article has a Promotional Price/Red Price.
6. What happens in case the price of an article increases after a price reduction, for example after a Sales event?
In case of a price increase after a sales event, we use the concept of a ‘price comparison’ rather than a price reduction. Zalando would display the Original Price and the Current Price. For example, if the article has an Original Price of €100, and the price was reduced to €70, but is currently selling at €90, the platform would only display the ‘Original Price’ of €100 and ‘Current Price’ of €90.
In cases of subsequent price reductions, e.g., if the ‘Original Price’ was €100, and then reduced to €80 during the first week of a sales event, and further reduced to €70 in the second week of the sales event - then the price display would show the ‘Three Price Display’ with Original Price = €100, Last Lowest Price = €80, and Current Price = €70.
We take into account the last 30 day price, only if it was higher than the current sale price (e.g., price lowered subsequently from €100 to €90 to €80). However, if there is a price increase (e.g., €100 lowered to €70 and then increased to €80), we only use the Two Price Display and show the Original Price (i.e., €100) and the Current Price (i.e., €80).
7. What happens if I submit an incorrect price?
In the event you submit an incorrect price, please correct the error in your pricing feed as you normally do. If the correction is significant enough to trigger our price validation service please see our article here on how to manage price warnings and errors. For the avoidance of doubt, you as a partner will not be restricted to set your prices in any respect. However, please keep in mind that you as a partner have the obligation to ensure that the prices you set are in accordance with the Omnibus Directive.
8. What are the pricing misconducts that violate the EU Omnibus Directive?
This includes instances such as:
Increasing black prices when introducing discounts
Raising black prices with an existing red price
Offering discounts on an article within 10 days after the launch of an article.
9. What are the changes to the price display in the Sale section in Poland?
For Omnibus regulatory reasons and to elevate our customer’s shopping experience, only articles which show a price reduction in relation to the last lowest price of the past 30 days, are displayed in the sale section. Articles which only show a reduced price in comparison to the Regular Price will not appear in the Sale section in Poland anymore. They will appear in the standard Fashion Store.
The adjustment of the display logic is already in place with immediate effect.