On 29 March 2023, the UK’s Competition and Market’s Authority (“CMA”) published a letter to UK businesses which outlines various pressure selling tactics which the CMA considers would likely breach consumer protection laws.[1][2] If your business uses, and is considering using, any forms of pressure-selling to induce consumers to transact, then read on.
The key legislation here is The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (“CPUT”), which establishes that unfair commercial practices in B2C contexts are prohibited. Under CPUT, “commercial practices” relate to all conduct connected to the promotion, sale and supply of products/services to consumers. This broadly-worded prohibition has been used to outlaw a range of different commercial practices that have arisen over the years in e-commerce and online selling generally. Under CPUT, practices are unfair (and therefore banned) if they constitute misleading actions or misleading omissions. There are also certain practices which are automatically unfair and banned.
The letter forms part of the CMA’s ongoing work into harmful online choice architecture (otherwise known as ‘dark patterns’)[3]. In the first instance, the CMA is targeting urgency claims. These include time limited claims, countdown timers, ‘hurry’ messaging and other scarcity claims. The key legal issues are that (in certain contexts) these practices can mislead consumers and put unfair pressure on them to purchase quickly.
The letter provides helpful practical examples and explanations of why certain practices are unlikely to comply with consumer laws. We summarise these examples below.
Example | Issue |
False time limited claims
|
The claims are untrue because the promotion continues. This also risks putting unfair pressure on consumers to act fast when they could take more time to consider the purchase. |
Deceptive time limited claims
|
Whilst the information is true, the information is deceptive because a comparable offer is available after the promotion ends. This means consumers may feel pressurised to purchase quickly, when they do not need to. |
False checkout timers
|
The checkout timer puts unfair pressure on consumers to purchase quickly when they do not need to, and so is likely misleading. |
False stock claims
|
The claims either contain false information (stock is not actually low), or provide the false impression that consumers must act fast to purchase the product before it sells out. |
False urgency claims
|
These claims create the impression there is a lot of consumer interest in the product, meaning a consumer should act quickly to not miss out. This is likely misleading because, whilst the consumer interest claim may be true, consumers do not need to hurry their purchases. |
False timeframes
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The claim does not match the live data gathered by the trader, making consumer interest appear higher than it is. |
Purchase activity claims
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Whilst the information related to numbers of purchases may be true in one sense, the claims provide the false impression that consumer interest in the particular product is higher than it actually is. |
Deceptive sales rates
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Whilst the information may be true, the claims create a misleading impression that they refer to recent sales figure/current demand. A qualification somewhere else on the page is unlikely to remedy the misleading impression of the headline claim. |
Price Reduction claims For example: “£100 £50” / “Was £100, Now £50” (£100 represents the reference price, and £50 the discount price) The following price reduction claim scenarios are unlikely to comply with consumer laws according to the CMA:
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Whilst the CMA cannot create law, it plays a key role in regulating the behaviour of businesses in a B2C context by investigating and bringing actions to enforce the law. We would encourage businesses to review their practices to ensure no misleading or unfair pressure-selling tactics are employed.
[1] Shoppers urged to call out online rip-offs as CMA unveils ‘red lines’ - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/online-choice-architecture-work