We recently held an online event focused on helping MIA Members stay on the right side of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and ensure their online pricing practices are compliant with consumer law.
The session came at a timely moment, as the CMA has launched a major consumer-protection initiative examining online pricing practices across 14 sectors. As part of this work, the CMA has issued formal warning letters to 100 businesses and opened investigations into eight businesses. The areas of concern included pricing transparency issues such as automatically adding extra service costs to customers’ baskets and the misleading presentation of so-called “time-limited” offers.
Against this backdrop, the webinar highlighted why it is particularly important for MIA Members who sell musical instruments online to review their current practices. The event explored what businesses can do now to reduce the risk of enforcement action and ensure compliance with the latest consumer law, as well as the CMA’s guidance on pricing transparency and unfair commercial practices.
One area of focus during the session was delivery charges, including when and how these are presented to customers within the “invitation to purchase”. This was identified as a key risk area where businesses may need to pay closer attention.
The webinar was led by Marc Shrimpling, who once again brought his extensive competition-law expertise and practical insight to an MIA audience. Marc outlined recent regulatory developments, highlighted common practices that businesses should review, and explained the steps needed to ensure online pricing remains compliant.
In case you missed it
The webinar was recorded and the slides are available. MIA Members can watch the session back in full and revisit the key guidance and practical insights shared during the event.
Please email membership@mia.org.uk to have the resources sent over to you directly.
