EU online shop rules glossary: the terms explained

The EU rules for online shops are short, but they lean on terms with precise meanings. A “prior price” is not just any earlier price, and a “withdrawal function” is not the same as the right of withdrawal. This glossary defines the terms a shop owner meets when reading about the 30-day lowest price, the legal guarantee notice and the withdrawal button, in the order they tend to come up. Each entry says where the term comes from and links to the guide that goes further.

Price reductions

Prior price

The reference price that must be shown with every announced price reduction. Article 6a(2) of the Price Indication Directive 98/6/EC defines it as “the lowest price applied by the trader during a period of time not shorter than 30 days prior to the application of the price reduction”. It is not the last price before the sale, not the usual price and not a recommended price. Earlier promotions inside those 30 days count. See the 30-day lowest price rule.

30-day lowest price

The everyday name for the prior price. StoreCompliant’s price line uses it in the wording shoppers see: “Lowest price in the 30 days before this discount”. See the 30-day lowest price feature.

Price reduction announcement

What triggers the prior price duty. The directive does not define it; the Commission’s guidance gives examples: a percentage or amount off, a new price next to a higher crossed-out price, the words “sale”, “special offers” or “Black Friday offers”, and a discount code open to everyone. A price that simply goes down without being presented as a reduction is not an announcement. See crossed-out prices and “was/now” discounts.

Strikethrough price (crossed-out price, “was” price)

A higher price shown struck through next to the current price. It is a price reduction announcement, so the prior price applies to it. On Wix Stores it is a separate display field that is not linked to the product price, so the figure in it is whatever the merchant entered. See Wix Stores and the EU rules.

Omnibus Directive

Directive (EU) 2019/2161, which amended several EU consumer laws at once (hence “omnibus”). For online shops its best-known change is Article 6a of the Price Indication Directive, the 30-day lowest price rule, which Member States have applied since 28 May 2022.

Price Indication Directive

Directive 98/6/EC on the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers. It is the law that Article 6a sits in. It also contains the rule on unit prices (price per kilo or litre).

Aldi Süd judgment (C-330/23)

The Court of Justice judgment of 26 September 2024 holding that a reduction announced as a percentage, or as a promotional statement about how good the price is, “must be determined on the basis of the ‘prior price’”. In short: the percentage is worked out from the 30-day lowest price, not from a higher reference price.

Member State options

Three situations in which Article 6a lets each EU country set its own rules: goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, goods on the market for less than 30 days, and reductions that are progressively increased. Not every country used every option, so national law decides.

Variant

A version of a product with its own price or stock, such as a size or a colour. The EU texts never mention variants. Because each variant can have its own price history, a single prior price for the whole product can be wrong for one of them; the cautious reading is to work per variant. See the 30-day lowest price and product variants.

Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD)

Directive 2005/29/EC, the general law against misleading commercial practices. Price claims that fall outside Article 6a, such as comparisons with a recommended retail price or “buy one, get two” offers, are judged under it instead.

Guarantees

Legal guarantee of conformity

The seller’s liability under the law for goods that do not conform to the contract. It comes from Directive (EU) 2019/771: the seller is liable for a lack of conformity that exists at delivery and becomes apparent within two years, and Member States may provide longer periods. The consumer can ask for repair or replacement and, in some cases, a price reduction or termination. It is not something a shop chooses to offer. See the EU legal guarantee notice.

Commercial guarantee

A voluntary promise by a seller or a producer, given in addition to the legal guarantee. A manufacturer’s warranty is a commercial guarantee. It never replaces the legal guarantee.

Harmonised notice

The standard EU notice reminding consumers of the legal guarantee of conformity, which traders selling goods to consumers must provide “in a prominent manner” from 27 September 2026. Its design and content are fixed by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960; none of its elements may be edited, and online it must be in colour. StoreCompliant shows this notice unchanged, in the shopper’s language. See the legal guarantee notice feature.

Harmonised label (GARAN label)

A separate standard label for products whose producer offers a commercial guarantee of durability at no additional cost, covering the entire good, for more than two years. It shows the number of years, the brand and the model. It is voluntary in the sense that it only applies where such a guarantee exists. StoreCompliant does not add this label.

Directive (EU) 2024/825

The directive “on empowering consumers for the green transition”, adopted on 28 February 2024. It amends the Consumer Rights Directive and introduces the harmonised notice and label. Member States apply its measures from 27 September 2026.

Withdrawal

Right of withdrawal

The consumer’s right to cancel a distance contract within 14 days without giving a reason, under Article 9 of the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU. For goods, the period runs from delivery. Article 16 lists exceptions, such as personalised goods. See the EU withdrawal button.

Withdrawal function (withdrawal button)

The online function that Article 11a of the Consumer Rights Directive requires for distance contracts concluded through an online interface, from 19 June 2026. It must be labelled “withdraw from contract here” or an unambiguous equivalent, be continuously available throughout the withdrawal period, and lead to a statement the consumer submits with a “confirm withdrawal” button. “Withdrawal button” is the everyday name. See the withdrawal button feature.

Withdrawal statement

What the consumer submits through the function: their name, details identifying the contract (an order number, for example) and the electronic means by which the acknowledgement is to be sent. The consumer can “provide or confirm” these, so a logged-in customer need not type them again.

Confirmation function

The second step of the withdrawal function: a button labelled only “confirm withdrawal” or an unambiguous equivalent. It exists so that a consumer does not withdraw by accident.

Acknowledgement of receipt

The message the trader must send “without undue delay” after a withdrawal statement, on a durable medium, including the content of the statement and the date and time of its submission. An email is the usual form.

Durable medium

Any instrument that lets the consumer store information addressed personally to them in a way that is accessible for future reference and can be reproduced unchanged. Email is the example the directive’s own model instructions use; a page that only appears once on screen is not.

Distance contract

A contract concluded without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, using one or more means of distance communication. An order placed through a web shop is the standard case.

Online interface

The directive’s term for the software through which the contract is concluded; the recital gives “a website or application” as examples.

Consumer Rights Directive

Directive 2011/83/EU, the main EU law on information duties and the right of withdrawal in consumer contracts. Both the withdrawal function (Article 11a) and the harmonised notice (Article 22a) were added to it by later directives.

Scope

Consumer

A natural person acting for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession. The three rules on this site concern sales to consumers; sales to other businesses are a different subject.

Trader

Any person acting for purposes relating to their trade, business, craft or profession, including anyone acting in their name. For the price rule, the Commission’s guidance treats the seller of the goods as the trader, also when selling through a marketplace.

Directing sales to EU consumers

The test the Commission’s guidance uses for shops based outside the EU: Article 6a “applies also to traders based outside the EU that direct their sales to EU consumers”. The guidance bases this on the EU rules on applicable law and does not spell the test out further; if you actively sell to consumers in an EU country, assume its rules can reach you and check them.

EEA

The European Economic Area: the EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Commission’s price guidance is addressed to these countries as well. StoreCompliant’s paid plans can limit each feature to visitors from the EU and EEA.

Transposition

The process by which an EU directive is written into each country’s national law. A directive sets the outcome and the date; the rule that binds a shop is the national one, which can add detail or use the options the directive allows. That is why every guide on this site ends with “check your national law”.

Where to go next

Start with the checklist of EU rules for online shops, then read the guide for the rule you are working on. The FAQ has short answers, and the features pages show how StoreCompliant handles each duty on a shop. It is a compliance aid, not legal advice.