• Special discount codes, sale days, countdown clocks – you see them and think it’s worth taking advantage, because who knows when such an opportunity might come again.
• Customers of the Renee and Born2Be online stores are unaware that these “promotions” never end.
• For misleading consumers about the existence of a genuine price advantage, the President of UOKiK has imposed a fine of nearly PLN 15 million on Azagroup.

Discounts, promotions and sales are time-limited opportunities that allow consumers to purchase products or services at reduced prices. They are used by businesses to attract attention to their offers and are often welcomed by buyers, for whom they frequently serve as a key incentive to make a purchase. As shown by the UOKiK study “The Impact of Promotions on Purchasing Behaviour”, as many as 82% of respondents are influenced by promotions and discounts when choosing an online store. It is essential that such offers are presented in a lawful, reliable, and clear manner. However, on the websites of the clothing and footwear stores renee.pl and born2be.pl, consumers were misled by suggestions of a special price advantage. As a result, the President of UOKiK imposed a fine of nearly PLN 15 million on Azagroup, the owner of the online stores, and ordered the company to cease the unfair practice.

Big discounts or big pretences

No matter when you visit the Renee and Born2Be store websites, you might get the impression that you have just come across a special opportunity – a banner with a discount code, tabs highlighting special price offers, sometimes a countdown clock for the promotion, other times slogans announcing “crazy Wednesday”, “shopping night”, or “sale week”. Are we really lucky, and is it worth rushing to buy at a lower price? It turns out this is not necessarily the case. The President of UOKiK established that the company uses discount codes continuously, meaning the discounts offered are not exceptional promotions occurring occasionally, which could motivate a purchase.

– When a price promotion never ends, it is not a real promotion. It is manipulation and intrusive pressure. Suggesting the uniqueness of the promotions offered when in fact they are ongoing all the time, with only the discount code name changing, is misleading to consumers and constitutes an unlawful practice – said Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Eternal promotion = dark patterns

Permanent promotions are a marketing tactic that presents regular prices as if they offer genuine discounts, creating artificial pressure and misleading buyers. Consumers’ decision-making processes should not be subjected to any form of pressure or manipulation. Never-ending promotions, constantly renewed discount codes, and countdown clocks resetting repeatedly are examples of so-called dark patterns – dishonest practices that exploit knowledge of online shoppers’ behaviour to influence their choices. The alleged time limitation of promotions, the artificial pressure, and the emphasis on the exceptional nature of the discount (such as during the brand’s anniversary, pre-holiday weekend, or shopping night) may have led consumers to make purchases they might have otherwise avoided had they been fully informed of the seller’s true practices.

Products on the Renee and Born2Be store websites may never have been offered at prices from which discounts were calculated. The presentation of promotional prices is also the subject of ongoing proceedings initiated by the President of UOKiK against Azagroup. The allegations include, among others, displaying price promotions in a manner inconsistent with the Omnibus Directive, failing to reference the lowest price from the 30 days preceding the promotion announcement.

Azagroup has been fined nearly PLN 15 million (PLN 14,910,599). The decision is not final, and the company may appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. Once the decision becomes final, Azagroup will inform customers via its websites and social media.