Recently introduced in Italy was the European Omnibus Directive, a small revolution in the B2C and B2B world that will affect both physical stores and e-commerce, changing a whole series of important aspects, aimed at greater consumer protection.
The changes made to the Consumer Code concern, in particular, the updating of these 4 rules:
The European Parliament decided to enact this law to keep up with the many changes that have been transforming the market in recent years.
Theoretically, this directive was to come into force in all member states in May 2022, but in practice The implementing decree of the Omnibus Directive (Legislative Decree No. 26 of March 7, 2023) was published in Italy later than the scheduled time, arriving only on March 18, 2023 in the Official Gazette.
In order to enforce the new rules, the directive introduces new penalties with a maximum penalty ranging from 5 to 10 million euros.
So it is important to make sure that your business is in line with the new regulations so that you do not face heavy fines.
Before the advent of social and the emergence of verified platforms specifically for reviews, such as Google and Trustpilot, opinion regarding products and services lived through word of mouth.
Although this is still partly the case today, the evolution of the relationship between consumers and businesses has changed the game.
Reputation and opinions about companies play a key role in customers' final choice.
One of the main touchpoints in the path to purchase in fact is precisely the search for reviews on the product, location and services, so a positive or negative opinion can prove decisive in the final choice.
Trust is always important to consumers:89% of consumers check online reviews before making purchases (CANVAS8, The critical role of reviews in Internet trust - 2020. Average of results, France, UK and US), 58% of consumers consult online reviews at least once a week (Podium, State of Online Reviews - 2017. Average of results US).
Often on the home page sui, on some product pages, in social feeds, newsletters, or in some ADS one happens to come across reviews whose origin is not indicated, so it is difficult to verify their reliability.
Thanks to the introduction of the Omnibus Directive from now on it will be prohibited to publish:
It will also be mandatory to indicate who wrote the review and on which platform, highlighting which tools are used to verify reviews.
The issue regarding reviews turns the spotlight on another important aspect, reputation.
Whether it's brands, not only online, but also products/services, as well as stores, which offline remain an important point of contact with users, collecting reviews with transparency is not only a due act, but also a way to educate companies to actively listen to their users, to improve what's wrong and optimize the relationship between company and consumers.
Without forgetting another equally underestimated aspect than the strategic value of reviews that allow to increase conversions, improve brand awareness and boost SEO, strengthening the organic ranking of any site or eCommerce.
One big change is definitely about discounts. From now on, whenever price reductions are planned, the lowest price applied during the last 30 days must be indicated by the professional, along with the precise percentage discount executed on the goods.
This requirement applies both within physical stores and in e-commerce.
The purpose of this particular directive is to discourage unfair practices related to discounting, with reference to the application of a starting price that does not correspond to the real one.
The effectiveness of this rule may be immediately measurable as it will be implemented starting July 1, 2023, coinciding with the start of summer sales.
Just during these periods there are numerous reports from consumers about unclear price reductions.
A particularly famous phenomenon is what goes by the name of repricing, in which the discounted price is actually the same as the price previously charged, which was later modified, increasing it so that the final price appeared cheap.
There are then to some exceptions mentioned in the directive which concern derogations for sales below cost, for launch prices and for the sale of perishable agricultural and food products and for ad personam offers.
Finally, for items that have been put on sale for less than 30 days, the price for the interval between the time of launch and the start of discounts should be indicated.
The Omnibus Directive extended the protection dictated by the rules of the Consumer Code to those instances wheredigital content is provided to the consumer through a non-material medium or digital service in exchange for personal data.
The only exception is where the personal data provided by the consumer is processed solely for the purpose of providing the digital content or digital service and for no other purpose.
In fact, there are so many sites that in lieu of a monetary consideration ask for data processing in order to take advantage of services and content for free.
It is critical to have control over one's data, which is why companies must take appropriate measures to protect it from unauthorized access or security breaches.
Consumer protection must ensure respect for users' privacy and transparent information about how personal data are collected, used, and protected.
In addition to the practices already mentioned, a whole series of transactions considered unfair or deceptive to consumers
are added with the new directive.Some of these are already quite well known such as secondary ticketing, the resale of tickets related to events that have been previously purchased by a bot in greater numbers than legally allowed.
Allegal also becomes dual quality, which is the promotion on the market of a new product that is already on the market by passing it off as the same, despite being different in composition and characteristics.
In contrast, the world of marketplaces will be subjected to stricter criteria. Within these platforms for the exchange and sale of products, it will now and then be mandatory for operators to indicate the criteria for ranking items according to the keyword entered.
Purchasing through e-commerce is a fast-growing trend, especially because of the smoothness of the shopping experience and the ability to purchase a good/service at a more competitive price.
However, while technology has made shopping more convenient and accessible, it has also introduced new challenges and risks for consumers.
In this context, precisely because of the lack of direct contact with the product to be purchased,consumer protection in the digital and non-digital world assumes paramount importance in ensuring the security, privacy, and trust of online users.
The approval of the Omnibus Directive represents the beginning of a path of protection towards all consumers, based on the principle of transparency, both in practices and information.