Price Compliance in Retail: The rules governing your labels
Price compliance refers to the legal rules that a price and its display must follow.
In France, four rules apply: the reference price for discount advertisements, the prohibition on reselling at a loss, the EGalim promotional caps, and price disclosure requirements.
These rules are simple to state but difficult to apply to thousands of products and multiple channels. Most discrepancies stem from incomplete data at the time the price is set, not from any intention to mislead.
A crossed-out price that was calculated incorrectly, a promotion that exceeds the cap, a loss leader price that falls below the break-even point: no retailer intends for this to happen, and yet these discrepancies are common.
This guide is intended for pricing, sales, and legal departments in the retail sector.
It outlines the four rules governing pricing in France, along with their relevant legal provisions, and provides links to the articles that explain each one in detail.
What is price compliance in retail?
Price compliance refers to the set of legal rules that a selling price and its display must follow: minimum resale prices, disclosure of discounts, promotional price caps, and consumer information.
In France, four rules govern the main aspects of this issue for retailers: the reference price for discount advertisements, the prohibition on selling at a loss, the regulations on promotions under the EGalim laws, and price disclosure requirements.
Each one is easy to state. What makes them difficult is applying them to thousands of SKUs, multiple channels, and prices that change every week.
This guide outlines the rules and provides links to articles that explain each one in detail. It is not a substitute for legal advice regarding a specific case.
| Rule | What it requires | Reference Text |
|---|---|---|
| Reference Price | Display the lowest price from the last 30 days and calculate the discount based on that price | Consumer Code, Art. L.112-1-1 |
| Selling at a loss | Do not resell at a price lower than the actual purchase price, plus 10% for food items | Commercial Code, Art. L.442-5; SRP+10 through April 15, 2028 |
| Promotion Caps | 34% by value and 25% by volume in food, 40% by value in personal care products | EGalim Laws, extended by the Act of April 14, 2025 |
| Pricing Information | Price as listed, including all taxes, price per unit of measure | Consumer Code |
Sale Announcements: 30-Day Average Price
As of May 28, 2022, any advertisement for a price reduction must display a reference price: the lowest price charged by the seller in the 30 days prior to the reduction. This is the implementation of the European “Omnibus” Directive.
In September 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified the scope of the rule: the advertised discount percentage must be calculated based on this reference price, not on the most recent price charged.
Specifically, a product whose price dropped from 10 to 8 euros and then went back up to 10 euros cannot be advertised as “20% off” at 8 euros within the following 30 days.
The calculations, special cases, and most common mistakes are detailed in our article on the reference price and the 30-day rule. The special case of peak periods is covered in “Black Friday: Real and Compliant Discounts.”
One-third of the businesses offering price reductions were found to be noncompliant during DGCCRF inspections: missing reference prices, exaggerated discounts, or non-existent discounts.
(DGCCRF, 2024 survey on consumer information regarding prices and discounts, report published on November 24, 2025)
Break-even point: the minimum price for each item
The Commercial Code prohibits the resale of a product in its current condition at a price lower than its actual purchase price.
This actual purchase price is based on the net invoice price, minus any other financial benefits granted by the supplier, plus certain taxes and shipping costs.
For food and pet products, this threshold is increased by 10 percent: this is the “SRP+10,” extended through April 15, 2028, by the law of April 14, 2025, which also specifies that the ban applies to private-label brands.
The law provides for a few limited exceptions, such as sales, clearance sales, seasonal items at the end of the season, or perishable goods at risk of spoiling quickly.
For a pricing manager, the threshold is not a fixed number: it changes with each purchasing condition. We explain this in “EGalim and the Break-Even Threshold,” in relation to the front margin and the back margin.
Promotions: EGalim Limits
In the mass-market retail sector, discounts on a product are capped at 34% of its value and at 25% by volume for food products.
For household goods, perfumes, and hygiene products, the value cap has been raised to 40% under the law of April 14, 2025.
These limits have also been extended through April 15, 2028. They cap the depth of discounts and the percentage of sales volume sold at promotional prices, which changes the way promotional plans are developed.
Their impact on price arbitrage is discussed in our article on pricing in the food retail sector, and the measurement of operational profitability is addressed in the section on measuring the incremental impact of promotions.
Pricing Information: What the Customer Sees
The price must be displayed clearly, including all taxes, along with the price per unit of measure for the products in question. These display rules apply on store shelves, on the website, and in advertisements.
Price differences across channels are acceptable, provided they are clearly disclosed. The risk arises when a customer sees a discount in-store based on a price they have never seen online—or vice versa.
Consistency between stores and the website is addressed in the section on price discrepancies across channels. Some sectors add their own rules, such as the pharmacy, which is described in the section on pharmacy pricing.
Why Compliance Is First and Foremost a Data Issue
Retailers are well aware of these rules. Discrepancies almost always stem from execution issues: an incomplete price history, a purchase price updated too late, or a promotion set up outside the system.
10% of the establishments inspected received a compliance order or a citation, out of nearly 5,300 establishments and 350 websites inspected.
(DGCCRF, 2024 survey on consumer information regarding prices and discounts, report published on November 24, 2025)
Our belief is that a compliance rule that isn't built into the pricing tool will eventually be circumvented. Verification must take place before the price is published, not after an investigator's visit.
This requires three things: a price history organized by channel, an up-to-date record of actual purchase prices, and rules that block or flag prices that fall outside the specified range.
What a tool should do in this regard is detailed in " Monitoring Your Discount Offers with a Pricing Tool."
This issue ties into the question of governance: who can make an exception to a rule, and how is that exception tracked? See: Managing Exceptions to Pricing Policy and Validation Alerts and Workflows.
What Booper Does in Terms of Compliance
The Booper MPS platform natively incorporates French regulations: the threshold for selling at a loss, including the 10% markup on food products; EGalim promotional caps; and 30-day reference prices for discount offers.
These checks are applied when the price or promotion is set up in the pricing and promotion management modules, and every exception is tracked.
Are your price checks scalable?
Our experts help you incorporate compliance rules as prices and promotions are being prepared.
Let's discuss your price checksFAQ: Price Compliance in Retail
Four rules govern most of a retailer's pricing: the reference price for discount promotions, the prohibition on selling at a loss, the EGalim promotional caps, and price disclosure requirements.
The first requires retailers to display the lowest price from the past 30 days during a sale. The second prohibits reselling at a price lower than the actual purchase price, plus 10% for food items.
The third restricts the depth and volume of promotions in the mass-market retail sector. The fourth regulates advertising.
It was the 2019 European directive that required that, for any advertisement promoting a discount, the lowest price charged in the previous 30 days be indicated.
In France, it was incorporated into Article L.112-1-1 of the Consumer Code, which has been in effect since May 28, 2022.
Since a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in September 2024, the discount percentage must also be calculated based on this reference price, rather than on the most recent price charged.
Yes. The 10% increase in the threshold for resale at a loss on foodstuffs and pet products was extended through April 15, 2028, by the law of April 14, 2025.
The same law confirmed that the ban on selling at a loss applies to private-label products and increased the penalties. The EGalim promotional caps have been extended until the same date.
In the food sector, promotions are capped at 34% of the product's value and 25% of the volume specified in the agreement with the supplier.
For household goods, perfumes, and hygiene products, the value cap has been raised to 40% under the law of April 14, 2025. These caps apply to all sales mechanisms, including bundles and free gifts, through April 15, 2028.
In France, this role is primarily carried out by the DGCCRF, the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control.
Its investigators monitor stores, websites, and advertisements, often based on reports from consumers.
During its 2024 investigation into price reductions, nearly 5,300 establishments and 350 locations were inspected, and one-third of the establishments offering discounts were found to have irregularities.
Most often because the necessary data is not available at the time the price or promotion is decided.
An incomplete price history distorts the reference price. If a purchase price is updated too late, it can cause a price to fall below the break-even point.
A calculation set up in a spreadsheet bypasses the checks. The solution lies in rules built into the pricing tool, which are applied before publication.
It does not replace the advice of a legal professional, but it applies the rules systematically before prices are published.
A tool tailored to the French market calculates the reference price based on historical data, checks each price against the threshold for selling at a loss, verifies promotional caps, and keeps track of exceptions.
It turns a one-time audit into an ongoing monitoring process.
In the toy industry, Black Friday kicks off the Christmas shopping season, which accounts for more than a third of annual sales. With the 30-day rule, its price becomes the benchmark for nearly all December promotions.
The discount applies only to the toys being compared, not to licensed products or this year's new releases. Baby care—a thoughtful purchase driven by the timing of births—calls for moderate discounts.
In the high-tech sector, Black Friday accounts for a major portion of annual sales and takes place two months after the back-to-school product launches. It is intended to clear out the previous generation of products rather than to sell off the new ones at a discount.
Refurbished products set a ceiling on the price of new items, and some prices are rising due to the cost of components. The advertised discount is always calculated based on the lowest price over the past 30 days.
When it comes to home appliances, Black Friday success depends more on the selection of models than on the size of the discounts. An 8% price reduction may require a 50% increase in sales to maintain the same profit margin.
It's best to act quickly on the models that are actually being compared, maintain the prices of exclusive models, focus on delivery, installation, and trade-ins, and prepare the 30-day policy starting in October.