At the meeting of the Advertisement Board numbered 341 and held on 8 January 2024, a new principle decision regarding discount sales advertisements was made in the Guidelines on Advertisements Containing Price Information, Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices regarding misleading advertisements and practices that may lead to unfair competition and consumer dissatisfaction in the retail trade sector.
This amendment to the Guidelines on Advertisements Containing Price Information, Discount Sale Advertisements and Commercial Practices aims to provide more effective protection against deceptive practices that make it difficult for consumers to compare prices in discount sales campaigns.
At the meeting, with respect to loyalty programs, which, according to the Guidelines, are defined as “discount cards, coupons, loyalty programs or practices that allow consumers to accumulate points for future purchases, which are not considered within the scope of discounted sales, and which entitle consumers to long-term price discounts on specified groups of goods or services”.
- Loyalty programs are increasingly becoming discount sales, including the vast majority of goods or services offered for sale,
- Within the scope of membership to loyalty programs, consumers participate in transactions such as sending text messages, giving approval via the website or mobile application, filling out forms,
- It has been determined that transactions are used to create the perception of unrealistic discounts in a way to eliminate consumer protection regulations and that this situation is distorting and misleading the price perception of consumers.
In order to prevent such deceptive practices, the Board decided that advertisements for goods or services offered for sale with a loyalty program may not directly or indirectly create the impression of a discount by using phrases such as “discount”, “savings”, “special discount/opportunity for XY card/members”, “pre-discount price” or visuals like crossed-out prices or downward trend graphs.
The Advertisement Board closely monitored discount sales advertisements and practices that deceived and misled consumers and create the perception of greater discounts than actually offered, during the month of January 2024. As a result, administrative totalling 7,046,663 TL were imposed within the scope of discount sales files.
You can access the official announcement published by the Ministry of Trade via this link.
