French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

The Order of 11 March 2015, now repealed, imposed specific conditions on price reduction announcements made in a commercial establishment, similar to those previously provided for announcements made in places of sale. Now, any price reduction announcement, whether posted online or in-store, falls under the provisions of new Article L. 112-1-1 of the Consumer Code.
Under the previous provisions whe …

Announcements made online or in-store

The Order of 11 March 2015, now repealed, imposed specific conditions on price reduction announcements made in a commercial establishment, similar to those previously provided for announcements made in places of sale. Now, any price reduction announcement, whether posted online or in-store, falls under the provisions of new Article L. 112-1-1 of the Consumer Code.

Under the previous provisions when the reduction was uniform, Article 3 exempted the trader from indicating the reduced price, when the reduction related to fully identified products or services. The discount could be granted by a simple cash discount, the advertised benefit being understood in relation to the reference price. According to the Circular of 7 July 2009, implementing the Order of 31 December 2008, the rule did not imply that a single uniform rate of reduction was practiced for an entire point of sale. Different rates could apply in the same point of sale, depending on the department and products concerned, provided that the goods or services in question were clearly indicated in the advertising . In the event of a non-uniform reduction, Article 2 of the Order of 11 March 2015 imposed a double marking: the advertiser had to specify, in addition to the reduced price, the reference price to which the reduction was applied. Article 4 also required that the advertiser be able to justify the reality of the reference price on the basis of which the price reduction was announced. 

Although the freedom thus accorded to operators was undeniable, the mechanism is nevertheless more restrictive than the system introduced by Directive No 2005/29 of 11 May 2005 ensuring maximum harmonization of national legislation, which does not tolerate any additional restriction on the principle of loyalty it lays down. The obligation of double marking, even if less restrictive, which remained in French law, did not comply with its requirements. However, new Article 6a of Directive No 98-6, derived from Directive No 2019/2161, introduces into European law the requirement of double marking. There is therefore no longer any incompatibility between French law and Directive No 2005/29, since Article 3(4) of the latter specifies that in the event of any conflict between its provisions and other EU rules governing specific aspects of unfair commercial practices, those other rules take precedence and apply to those specific aspects.

 For example, “-30% on shirts and -40% on pants”.

French Consumer Law

348. Announcements made online or in-store

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348. Announcements made online or in-store

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Sous parties

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise