Last week, following its investigation into Wowcher’s online selling practices, the CMA announced that Wowcher will change the way it promotes products and services to customers, in addition to paying £4 million in refunds to consumers.
Some organisations use so-called “dark patterns” or online choice architecture to “nudge” customers into buying products that they otherwise may not have bought. Examples include countdown timers, where you’re told you have less than half an hour to decide, when this may be false or misleading, or popularity claims such as banners that say “only three rooms left” when this may cause an inaccurate impression or false sense of urgency.
The announcement comes after the CMA launched an investigation into Wowcher last year about concerns that Wowcher’s countdown timers and marketing claims – such as ‘Running out!’ and ‘In high demand!’ could create a misleading sense of urgency and affect consumer’s purchasing decisions. The Wowcher investigation forms part of a wider programme on dark patterns, which includes the CMA’s ongoing investigations into Emma Sleep and Simba Sleep.
The CMA is concerned that such ‘urgency’ claims can create the impression that products will shortly become unavailable, when this may not be the case. If urgency claims are combined with countdown timers, they can put pressure on consumers to buy quickly if they fear they’ll miss out on the product. This can lead to hasty purchases, or customers spending more with the impression of getting excellent value on a product. The CMA was particularly concerned that a large majority of the products on Wowcher’s site continued to be available at a price that did not differ significantly even after the daily countdown timer had ended.
In November last year, the CMA wrote to Wowcher setting out its concerns and calling for it to address and change its practices or risk possible court action.
The CMA has now announced that Wowcher has agreed to commitments to change their practices which include:
- only using clear and accurate countdown timers: Timers must not mislead consumers or give a false impression that they have to act quickly to avoid missing out on a deal. Wowcher will also remove its permanent countdown timer at the top of its homepage which states ‘Deals refresh in*: XX:XX:XX:XX’ and counts down to midnight, suggesting those deals may then change or end.
- make sure all marketing claims are clear and accurate: Claims about the scarcity of a deal – e.g. ‘Almost gone – only two remaining!’, must accurately reflect Wowcher’s remaining stock levels, among other things. Claims about the popularity of a deal – for example, ‘In high demand!’ – must accurately reflect Wowcher’s sales figures, as well as how popular a deal is compared to other similar deals.
- refund customers who were signed up to ‘VIP membership’ via a pre-ticked box: Wowcher will provide a credit refund – with the option to exchange to cash – to over 870,000 customers and will stop the use of pre-ticked boxes for VIP sign-ups, to ensure customers are fully aware of what they are agreeing to. Based on information provided by Wowcher, the CMA expects refunds for those affected will total over £4 million
To ensure that Wowcher is complying with these commitments, it must regularly report to the CMA over the coming year.
In May 2024, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 received Royal Assent, meaning the CMA will have wider enforcement powers under the Act, such as levying fines directly for breaches of consumer law, when the relevant sections come into force. The Act also revises and restates the rules on unfair commercial practices in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
