The Competition Council of the GVH closed the proceeding by accepting the undertaking’s commitments
Budapest, April 11, 2025 – The Competition Council of the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) accepted the commitments offered by the Polish operator of the Answear online clothing store and terminated the proceedings without establishing the existence or absence of an infringement. The undertaking had already partially ceased its objectionable price display practices during the investigation and committed to revising its general sales communications. In 2023, the GVH launched competition supervision proceedings against three domestic online clothing and footwear retailers; the CCC investigation concluded in September 2024 with similar commitments, while proceedings against the About You operator remain ongoing.
In the summer of 2023, the GVH initiated investigations against the Hungarian, Polish, and German operators of three major domestic online clothing and footwear retailers – CCC, Answear, and About You – for allegedly displaying prices of special offer products in an unlawful manner.
Consumers require a clear and accurate indication of the extent of promotions and discounts, including their basis for comparison, to effectively compare product prices and evaluate the actual benefits and savings offered.
Of the three competition supervision proceedings, the GVH first concluded its investigation against CCC in September 2024, and now the investigation against the Polish operator of the Answear online store has also been completed.
The company cooperated with the GVH and immediately discontinued certain investigated pricing practices upon initiation of the proceeding. Answear has committed to voluntarily restricting the duration of promotional advertising for its products under a detailed, traceable formula: products must be offered at the original price for at least 30 days before being advertised as promotional items for a maximum of 60 days (or an additional 60 days in the event of a further price reduction).
This commitment ensures that promotional and discount communications do not persist excessively long – unlike the review period, when discount durations often significantly exceeded, and sometimes multiplied several times over, the initial full-price periods, with certain products remaining discounted for years. It thereby enables consumers to accurately assess the value of promotions. For the indicated discount to reflect genuine savings, the comparison basis must represent a price maintained for a sufficiently extended period relative to the discount duration.
The comprehensive set of commitments offered by Answear’s operator ensures the integration of these promotional principles into its practices – via compliance measures and IT developments – and provides consumers with adequate information through product details and website disclosures.
In the GVH’s assessment, Answear’s commitments adequately address the issues identified in the investigation. Accordingly, the Competition Council of the GVH accepted and rendered them binding, terminating the proceedings without establishing the existence or absence of an infringement. The GVH will conduct a comprehensive follow-up review to verify compliance.
The Answear case once again highlights that although permanent discounts on seasonal products are inherent in the nature of the products and are fundamentally beneficial to consumers, businesses must also be careful with such products that if they advertise a product as a special offer for too long, the originally indicated discount and the special offer itself may become apparent over time.
The GVH reminds businesses that, since May 2022, domestic retailers must display prices under clearer rules to enable informed consumer decisions on promotional offers. The GVH has prioritized scrutiny of price display practices in recent years. Following this legislative change, the GVH conducted a comprehensive rapid analysis (known as a sweep) in 2022 to assess compliance by domestic webshops selling clothing products. Based on its findings, the GVH issued recommendations to retailers, summarized in an educational video that illustrates legal requirements through positive and negative examples, aiding businesses in addressing common price display issues.
The official registration number of the case is VJ/18/2023.
GVH Press
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939