Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

DMCCA 2024: Divergence on 'was/now' pricing—ASA keeps 'significant number'; CMA pushes 1:2 sales ratio; implications for UK retailers pending Emma case

Published on: 20 January 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Commercial expert

Legal News

Article summary

On 14 January 2024, the ASA released refreshed guidance on claims about promotional savings and discounts. There is plenty of shared ground between the ASA and the CMA, yet there are notable differences in how they handle online discount and savings assertions—most notably ‘was/now’ pricing. The overlap is real, but not absolute.

WAS pretty reasonable and clear/NOW it’s not!

This territory had seemed settled and largely uncontentious for years, until the CMA chose to shift the goalposts in a way that caught online retailers off guard. In its recent case concerning online mattress retailers, the CMA introduced an entirely new and additional requirement for was/now discount claims. That stipulation is not applied in the same way in any other country and has never previously applied here in the UK. It does not flow from legislation; rather, the CMA appears to have conjured it. Frankly, that change has come as a surprise to many.

We have addressed this before, and I must admit it’s something I remain rather exercised about—I’ve still got a bee in my bonnet about it...

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