What: Greek retailer Attica Department Stores faces €400,000 fine for misleading pricing practices on a cosmetic product, highlighting the challenges of maintaining accurate pricing across vast digital inventories.

Why it is important: This case demonstrates the growing regulatory scrutiny of digital pricing practices in retail, revealing how even isolated technical errors can result in significant penalties and reputational damage.

Attica Department Stores, a prominent Greek retail chain, has been hit with a €400,000 fine by the Ministry of Development for violating consumer protection law N.2251/94. The penalty stems from a July 2024 inspection that revealed misleading pricing practices for a cosmetic product sold online at a price higher than its 30-day historical low. The announcement's timing during Black Friday, four months after the incident, has drawn particular attention to the case.

The retailer, which operates flagship stores across key locations including Athens and Thessaloniki and employs over 2,200 people, maintains that the issue was a technical error affecting just one product out of 30,000 listed items. In response, Attica has invested €30,000 in automated price-checking software to prevent future violations, while contesting the fine as disproportionate and questioning the timing of its announcement during the crucial Black Friday period.

IADS Notes: The €400,000 fine imposed on Attica Department Stores reflects a broader industry challenge in maintaining pricing compliance across digital platforms. This case emerges amid increasing scrutiny of retail pricing practices, as highlighted by recent investigations showing that 92% of Black Friday deals could be misleading regarding historical prices. While Attica attributes the violation to a technical error affecting one product among 30,000, this mirrors an industry-wide challenge that has prompted retailers to  in AI-powered pricing management systems. The company's subsequent €30,000 investment in automated price-checking software aligns with a growing trend of retailers implementing technological solutions to prevent such violations, particularly as consumers become more sophisticated in tracking and verifying prices. The timing of the announcement during Black Friday and the size of the fine underscore how regulatory bodies are taking a stricter stance on pricing transparency, similar to recent actions against other major retailers , demonstrating the significant operational and reputational risks of even isolated pricing errors in today's digital retail environment.

Attica Dept Stores fined €400,000 for misleading consumers