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Online retailers face fines of up to 10% of worldwide turnover for pricing breaches as the CMA presses businesses to disclose compulsory delivery fees upfront.
By Arjun Mehta, Capital Reporter · London
11 November 2026 · Reported from Retail Insight Network
Online retailers selling to UK consumers face renewed enforcement pressure over compulsory delivery charges, with penalties potentially reaching 10% of worldwide turnover. The Competition and Markets Authority issued a warning on 2 November 2026 that unavoidable fees must form part of advertised prices, Retail Insight Network reports.
The intervention concerns compliance with the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, rather than a proposed change to pricing rules. According to Retail Insight Network, businesses breaching the relevant consumer protection provisions can be fined up to 10% of worldwide turnover or £300,000, whichever is greater. They can also be ordered to compensate customers.
The financial exposure is already tangible. Retail Insight Network reports that the CMA’s November letter cited enforcement action against four businesses over drip pricing, resulting in combined fines exceeding £5.1m and more than £1.35m in consumer refunds. Drip pricing involves attracting shoppers with a lower initial price before adding charges they cannot avoid later in the transaction.
The requirements extend beyond the final payment page. Retail Insight Network reports that compulsory delivery or collection charges must be reflected in prices across advertising, product listings, shopping baskets and checkout. When delivery is unavoidable, the initial displayed price must incorporate the minimum compulsory fee.
Retailers retain flexibility over presentation: they may itemise the product cost and delivery charge, as long as the complete amount payable is clear. Where one delivery fee covers a whole order, a running basket total can incorporate that charge. This gives businesses a way to show the cost of multi-item purchases without treating an order-level fee as a separate charge for every product.
Optional services receive different treatment. Charges for upgrades such as next-day or scheduled delivery generally do not have to appear in the initial total, according to Retail Insight Network. Retailers must nevertheless explain when those charges apply and provide the relevant price information. If shoppers have no free option and must select from paid services, the cheapest available service belongs in the displayed total until they choose another.
Location-dependent charges require a further distinction. Where a fee cannot reasonably be worked out beforehand, the business must disclose that an additional cost may arise and explain its calculation. Customers must have enough information to determine the charge, and retailers must incorporate it into the total once it can reasonably be established.
The obligations also reach businesses that help shoppers find and compare products. Retail Insight Network reports that online marketplaces, comparison websites and search engines are covered by the warning. When sellers impose different compulsory delivery fees, each product’s displayed total must reflect the applicable seller’s charge, making seller-specific cost information important to those services.
The issue is relevant as retailers develop their fulfilment options. Market Entry Wire has separately reported on Primark’s plans for British home delivery using a Sheffield warehouse. For businesses introducing delivery, the pricing display is part of the launch design, alongside the physical operation that gets orders to customers.
The British Independent Retailers Association highlighted the CMA warning on 9 November 2026, encouraging retailers to assess whether their pricing practices meet UK consumer protection requirements, Retail Insight Network reports. Bira also directed businesses towards government guidance on clear pricing, providing a practical starting point for retailers reviewing their obligations.
The CMA’s stated concern is shoppers’ ability to judge competing offers. According to Retail Insight Network, the regulator argues that incomplete prices obstruct comparison and prevent consumers from understanding the full purchase cost. That places the emphasis on the usefulness of information at the point of decision, not simply whether a fee appears somewhere before payment.
The regulator also challenged how delivery information is made accessible. Retail Insight Network reports that the CMA warned against placing important details on separate pages or concealing them behind menus and expandable sections that customers might miss. A disclosure can therefore create a compliance risk through its placement, even when the retailer has published the information.
The CMA says it will keep monitoring online retail pricing and may take enforcement action against businesses that fail to comply, according to Retail Insight Network. Its requested review covers websites, mobile applications and online advertising. For retailers using several customer-facing systems, that means checking more than the checkout software alone.
Businesses have existing reference material for that work. The CMA’s Price transparency guidance, designated CMA209, was first published in November 2025, with a supporting summary following in January 2026. Retail Insight Network reports that it addresses mandatory fees, variable charges, optional costs and the treatment of delivery fees that apply to an entire order.
For international retailers, the relevant boundary is the customer market: the requirements apply to businesses selling to UK consumers, including overseas sellers and marketplaces serving the UK, Retail Insight Network reports. Companies expanding across several countries therefore need to assess their UK-facing prices specifically, rather than assume a single global presentation will meet the UK requirements.
A practical implication for market-entry teams is that delivery calculations and customer-facing price displays need to be assessed together before launch. A compulsory fee held in a fulfilment system but absent from an advertising feed creates a different operational problem from a missing checkout disclosure. The CMA warning makes the connection between those systems a compliance consideration, not merely a merchandising choice.
For companies entering the UK, delivery pricing needs to be part of market-entry preparation, not a final checkout adjustment. Retail Insight Network reports that the requirements reach overseas retailers and platforms serving UK consumers, while potential fines are tied to worldwide turnover. Expansion teams therefore need to connect delivery calculations with advertising, listings and basket displays. The practical opportunity is to build clear, compliant prices into the UK launch from the start, giving customers a reliable basis for comparing offers.
Source
Original reporting by Retail Insight Network. This report was written independently for Market Entry Wire.
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