Simplifying Price Tags: A New 2025 Update

The UK government is making changes to how prices are displayed in shops across Great Britain, aiming to make it easier for shoppers to understand and compare prices. Here's what you need to know about the latest update to the Price Marking rules.

What’s Happening?

The Price Marking (Amendment) Order 2025 is a set of tweaks to existing rules about how prices must be shown on products in stores. It builds on changes made in 2024, focusing on improving clarity and transparency in pricing for consumers. These amendments ensure that when you're shopping, you can easily see and compare prices, which helps you make better purchasing decisions.

Who Does This Affect?

The legislation applies to Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland, which has similar yet separate rules. It primarily impacts businesses and retailers, especially larger grocery stores. Small shops, defined as those with a floor space less than 280 square metres, are mostly exempt from these requirements.

Why the Change?

Feedback from businesses and consumer groups prompted these adjustments. The goal is to make sure that price labels are clear, allowing consumers to see the true cost of items, including any taxes, and compare them by unit price (like per litre or kilogram). This is particularly useful in helping you figure out the best deal when products are sold in different sizes or volumes.

Key Amendments:

1. Clarifying Rules: The amendments provide clearer guidance on when and how price reductions should be displayed, ensuring that general notices can be used only when individual price updates aren't feasible.

2. Unit Pricing Exceptions: There's clarification on exemptions concerning multi-buy offers, making it clear that if all items in a multi-buy are priced the same, but differ in weight or volume, they don't need separate unit pricing.

3. Extended Compliance Time: Businesses now have until April 2026 to comply with these changes, giving them more time to adjust their pricing labels accordingly.

What’s Next?

A guidance document will be made available to help businesses understand and implement these changes before they come into force. This will be accessible on the Department for Business and Trade’s website.

Impact and Monitoring:

The changes are designed to be minimal in terms of cost and impact. For consumers, this means a better shopping experience with clearer pricing. The government will keep an eye on how these changes play out in practice to ensure they are working as intended.

Overall, these updates aim to make shopping more straightforward and transparent, helping you get the most value for your money.