Understanding the EU Omnibus Directive

A plain-language overview of the EU Omnibus Directive's "prior price" rule and how Omnibus Owl helps you comply.

What the directive requires

The EU Omnibus Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/2161), applied through the Price Indication Directive, sets rules for how shops announce price reductions. The core rule is simple:

Whenever you advertise a price reduction, you must also show the prior lowest price — the lowest price the product was offered at during a set period before the reduction. That period must be at least 30 days.

In practice, when you put a product on sale you can't just show the "old" price you choose. You must show the genuine lowest price from the previous 30 days, so shoppers can see whether the discount is real.

Some EU member states apply slightly different reference windows or rules for goods that spoil quickly or products introduced less than 30 days ago. Omnibus Owl uses a 30-day window by default, which you can adjust in Settings.

Why it matters

• It's the law across the EU (and applied similarly in Norway and other EEA countries). Non-compliance can lead to fines.

• It builds trust. Shoppers can see that your sale prices are genuine, not inflated-then-discounted.

• Marketplaces and platforms expect it. Displaying a compliant reference price avoids disputes and takedowns.

How Omnibus Owl helps you comply

Omnibus Owl automates the two things the directive requires you to get right:

1. Recording the real price history. From installation, the app logs every price change for every variant, storing prices per market/currency. See How price tracking works.

2. Displaying the prior lowest price next to the product price on your storefront, using the correct 30-day window and the shopper's currency. See The lowest price widget.

It also gives you optional tools that make sales genuinely compliant — for example, Auto Compare At Price includes a guardrail that refuses to create a "reference price" the product never actually held.

Omnibus Owl is a compliance tool, not legal advice. You remain responsible for how prices are presented in your store. If you're unsure how the directive applies to your specific case, consult a qualified professional.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Prior lowest price	The lowest price the product was sold at in the reference window before a reduction.
Reference window	The look-back period (30 days by default) used to find the prior lowest price.
Reference date	The date the prior lowest price occurred, shown alongside the price.
Compare-at price	Shopify's "was" price shown with a strikethrough. Not the same as the Omnibus prior lowest price.