What the UK’s new price transparency rules mean for ecommerce retailers
For years, online pricing has followed an uncomfortable pattern. A product looks affordable on first glance, only for the real cost to emerge step by step. Delivery fees, booking charges, service costs, local taxes, and other mandatory additions quietly inflate the total just before payment.
That approach is now firmly in the past.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 represents the biggest overhaul of UK consumer pricing law in decades. Its price transparency provisions are already in force and they fundamentally change how prices must be presented online.
For ecommerce retailers, marketplaces, subscription businesses, and any brand advertising prices to UK consumers, the message is clear. The first price a customer sees must reflect what they will actually pay, or it must be immediately clear how that price will be calculated.
This is not a tweak to existing guidance. It is a hard reset.
What actually changed
Historically, practices such as drip pricing and partitioned pricing lived in a grey area. Regulators discouraged them, but enforcement was inconsistent and many businesses relied on industry norms to justify their approach.
The new rules remove that ambiguity entirely.
If a charge is mandatory in order to buy the product, it must be included in the price from the first point it is shown. That applies far earlier than checkout. Product listings, homepage carousels, basket previews, email promotions, paid ads, and even social media posts can all count as invitations to purchase.
Simply linking to a delivery page or hiding key costs behind FAQs is no longer enough.
Why this matters now
The Competition and Markets Authority has been explicit about its intent. These rules exist to rebuild consumer trust and to ensure fair competition between businesses that price honestly and those that previously did not.
Importantly, compliance is assessed across the entire customer journey, not just at payment. A site can have a perfectly transparent checkout and still be non-compliant if earlier price displays omit mandatory charges.
Many well-known retailers have not yet adapted their pricing presentation. That does not reduce the risk. Early enforcement typically focuses on high profile examples, but regulators have been clear that having no plan is far more dangerous than not being perfect on day one.
An action plan matters.
The challenge for ecommerce teams
Price transparency is not just a legal problem. It is a UX, data, merchandising, and platform challenge.
Retailers need to understand:
- Where prices are shown across the site and marketing channels
- Which of those locations qualify as invitations to purchase
- Which charges are truly mandatory versus optional
- When delivery and other costs become calculable
- How pricing updates dynamically as users interact
For many platforms, this exposes gaps between how pricing technically works and how the law now expects it to be communicated.
How Williams Commerce Can help
At Williams Commerce, we are already auditing ecommerce sites against the new price transparency rules.
Our audit identifies:
- Every location where pricing is shown
- Whether each instance is compliant under the new legislation
- Where risk exists and why
- Practical, platform aware recommendations to achieve compliance
Crucially, we do this with commercial realism. Enforcement will evolve, guidance will mature, and perfection on day one is unlikely. What matters is demonstrating clear intent, sensible prioritisation, and a defensible plan.
From there, we can support implementation. That includes pricing disclosures, basket behaviour, delivery calculation logic, and design decisions that reduce risk without harming conversion.
What comes next
This article is a high-level introduction only.
Our upcoming whitepaper goes deeper into:
- What qualifies as an invitation to purchase
- Mandatory versus optional charges in real ecommerce scenarios
- Delivery pricing, local taxes, and international considerations
- Subscriptions, memberships, and minimum term contracts
- Platform specific challenges and solutions
- A practical compliance checklist for digital teams
If your website shows prices anywhere before checkout, these rules and the legislation apply to you. And if you have not yet reviewed how your pricing appears before checkout, now is the time.
Williams Commerce is already auditing ecommerce sites against the new UK price transparency requirements, identifying compliance gaps, practical risk, and clear actions to take. We understand both the legislation and the realities of ecommerce platforms, UX, and conversion.
If you would like expert advice on how the new rules affect your site, or a quote for a pricing transparency audit, speak to the Williams Commerce team today. Contact us.
We can help you understand your exposure, define a credible compliance plan, and implement changes with confidence.
Pricing Transparency FAQs
Yes. If a page shows a product and a price, it can still be classed as an invitation to purchase even if the customer cannot complete the transaction on that page. Product listings, homepage carousels, promotional emails, paid ads, and social media posts can all fall within scope.
No. Compliance is assessed across the entire customer journey. Every place a price is shown must independently comply with the rules, including early stage advertising and product listings. A transparent checkout does not fix non compliant pricing earlier in the journey.
If delivery is mandatory to receive the product, it must be disclosed at the point the price is shown. Where the exact cost cannot yet be calculated, you must clearly explain how delivery pricing works and include minimum charges. Once the delivery location is known, the delivery cost must be calculated and included automatically.
Variable pricing is allowed, but it does not remove the obligation to be transparent. You must explain clearly that delivery varies by destination, show the minimum charge where possible, and calculate and include the delivery cost as soon as the customer’s location is known.
No. Many large and well known retailers are not currently compliant across all price displays. That does not reduce regulatory risk. Early enforcement typically focuses on visibility and impact, but regulators have been clear that businesses are expected to assess their position and work toward compliance.
The most important thing at this stage is having a documented action plan. Being able to demonstrate that you have audited your site, identified risks, and are actively addressing them is far safer than ignoring the issue or assuming enforcement will not apply to you.
If your pricing is directed at UK consumers, the rules apply regardless of where your business is based. International delivery charges, local taxes, and duties still need to be handled transparently within the pricing journey.
Yes. Subscriptions, rolling contracts, and minimum term agreements have specific requirements. Mandatory fees such as joining fees must be included in the advertised price, and minimum term commitments must be made clear alongside any per period pricing.
It is both. The legislation sets the requirement, but compliance is achieved through design, content, data, and platform behaviour. Pricing transparency needs to be built into how your site presents prices, updates totals, and responds to user actions.
Williams Commerce audits ecommerce sites to identify where pricing is shown, whether each instance complies with the new rules, and what practical steps are needed to reduce risk. We then support implementation, balancing compliance, usability, and commercial impact. Email us at [email protected] or call us on 0116 326 1116.
