How to Make Your Shopify Store Fully Omnibus-Compliant: A Practical EU Guide (2026 Update)
TL;DR: 2026 Shopify Omnibus Compliance in Short
- The golden rule: you must display the product's lowest price from the past 30 days whenever a price reduction is announced.
- The data gap: Shopify does not natively store price history. To comply, you need a system to track prices.
- 2026 additions: You must now also integrate GPSR safety data and disclose AI involvement in product reviews.
- Best Solution: Use a dedicated app, such as Omnibus Price History by Netkodo, for automated, high-performance tracking.
Why is it Important?
In 2026, price transparency is a technical baseline for any Shopify store operating within the European Union.
While the initial Omnibus Directive (Directive 2019/2161) focused on displaying the lowest price in the last 30 days, the regulatory landscape has evolved. Merchants now face stricter enforcement, updated General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR), and new transparency mandates regarding AI-generated content.
More about the Omnibus Directive on our blog: The EU Omnibus Directive Explained
At Netkodo, we specialize in solving these business problems through reliable, custom web development and Shopify solutions. This guide provides a technical roadmap for stores and agencies to achieve 100% compliance.
Pricing Transparency: Why Compare_at_Price Fails the Legal Test?
Many merchants mistakenly believe that filling in the compare_at_price field in Shopify is sufficient. From a technical and legal standpoint, this is incorrect for a few reasons:
- Manual entry: The compare_at_price field is manual and requires updating each product and variant individually. For stores with hundreds or thousands of SKUs, manually tracking and updating these values to reflect a rolling 30-day window is both impractical and error-prone, the leading cause of fake discount fines.
- Static data: The compare_at_price is a static input variable used for display purposes; it is not directly tied to your store's actual price history or transaction records. It does not verify whether the entered value represents a price that was ever truly active on the storefront, making it an unreliable source for a legal audit trail.
- Lack of history: Shopify’s native variable does not track historical fluctuations or verify if the entered value was the absolute floor during that period. It cannot account for temporary price drops or artificial inflation events where a price was briefly raised before a sale.
Technical Implementation: The 30-Day Lowest Price Rule
To implement EU price transparency on Shopify, you have two primary paths: custom development or professional automation.
1. The Custom Development Logic (Webhook Method)
For agencies building custom solutions, the architecture typically involves:
- Webhook listener: subscribe to the products/update webhook.
- Data persistence: every time a price changes, store the variant_id, new_price, and created_at timestamp in an external database.
- Calculation: when a product page loads, query the database for:
- Frontend display: inject the Pmin value via a Metafield or a dynamic App Block.
However, building a custom solution is not as straightforward as logging the price field. To avoid legal liability, your logic must account for several critical nuances, such as:
- Loyalty and member-only pricing: do prices visible only to logged-in members count as the lowest price for the general public? Usually no, but the logic must distinguish between these sessions.
- Price-rounding logic: if your store uses automatic currency conversion or rounding rules, the lowest price recorded must reflect the final rounded value the customer actually saw.
- Exclusions: standard Omnibus rules often exclude personalized discount codes (one-to-one), but automatic cart-level discounts often must be factored into the 30-day history if they are applied generally to all users.
2. The Netkodo Approach: Automated Reliability
Because of the technical debt associated with maintaining a custom middleware that handles these edge cases, we developed our Omnibus Price History by Netkodo app to remove the technical burden entirely.
Our solution is built to handle nuances natively, ensuring your audit trail is 100% compliant with EU enforcement standards without requiring constant script maintenance.
It automatically monitors every variant in your store and captures price snapshots in real time. It then injects a compliant lowest price in the last 30 days message directly into your theme without slowing page load times.
The Price per Unit Requirement
While the 30-day lowest price is the primary focus of Omnibus, it operates alongside the Price Indication Directive (PID). For stores selling products in specific quantities (e.g., 500ml of shampoo or 1kg of coffee), it is legally mandatory to display the unit price (e.g., €/liter or €/kg).
- Technical Action: Ensure your Shopify product data includes the unit_price and unit_price_measurement fields.
Your compliance widget should dynamically update the unit price based on the 30-day lowest price floor to ensure transparency for both the total and unit cost.
Beyond Pricing: The 2026 Compliance Checklist
| Requirement |
What to Implement |
Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Omnibus pricing | Display the lowest price from the last 30 days on all sales. | Mandatory |
| GPSR 2026 | Display manufacturer contact information and safety warnings on the PDP. | Mandatory |
| AI transparency | Disclose if reviews are AI summarized or generated. | Mandatory |
| Withdrawal button | Provide a clear, one click contract withdrawal button. | Mandatory (June 2026) |
| Seller identity | Visible VAT ID, KRS (if applicable), and physical address. | Mandatory |
| Search & Ranking Transparency | Disclose the key parameters that determine how products are ranked in search results (e.g., sales volume, profit, or paid promotion). | Mandatory |
| Total Price Display (Ending Drip Pricing) | Ensure the total price includes all non optional taxes and standard fees from the start of the purchase process to avoid hidden cost penalties. | Mandatory |
Omnibus compliance in 2026 is multifaceted. Use this checklist to ensure your store is protected.
Step-by-Step: Implementing Omnibus on Shopify
Follow these steps to become fully compliant:
1. Data Audit and Strategy
Before installing any software, determine which promotions trigger the directive.
- Action: Distinguish between price reductions (Omnibus-regulated) and general marketing offers (e.g., 3 for 2 or personalized loyalty codes), as the latter may be subject to different disclosure rules depending on the specific EU member state.
2. Historical Data Warming
You cannot display the 30-day lowest price immediately after installing a tracking tool.
- Action: Install your tracking solution at least 30 days before your next major sale event (e.g., Black Friday). If you must launch sooner, ensure the tool can import historical prices via CSV to bridge the data gap.
Netkodo tip: when using the Omnibus Directive rules, the lowest price must remain fixed throughout the duration of the sale. If you lower the price further during the sale, that new price becomes the new reference for the next 30 days.
3. Implementing the Automated Compliance Layer
Avoid manual Metafields for pricing. Use a solution like Omnibus Price History by Netkodo that handles the database architecture externally to ensure theme performance.
- Action: Ensure the tool is compatible with Shopify Markets. A customer in Germany must see the 30-day low in EUR, while a customer in Poland sees it in PLN, reflecting the actual historical prices in those specific markets.
4. Frontend Integration (App Blocks)
Compliance must be clear and prominent.
- Action: Use the Shopify 2.0 App Blocks to inject the lowest-price-in-the-last-30-days text directly below the current price on the Product Detail Page (PDP).
5. GPSR & Product Safety Data (2026 Update)
The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is now a technical requirement for Shopify stores.
- Action: Configure Shopify Metafields to store:
- Manufacturer details (Name, registered trade name, and email/address).
- Safety information/warnings in the local language of the market.
- Electronic address (URL) for further safety documentation.
6. AI Transparency and Review Verification
If your store uses LLMs to summarize reviews or filter content, you must disclose this. Furthermore, you must now explicitly state how you verify that reviews come from actual consumers.
- Action:
- Verification: Add a review policy page or a footer link that details your verification process (e.g., "Reviews are only accepted from customers with a confirmed order ID").
- AI Disclosure: Include a disclaimer: "Reviews on this page are verified for authenticity and summarized using AI tools for clarity."
7. Search & Ranking Transparency
The Modernisation Directive requires online marketplaces and stores to disclose the key parameters that determine how products are ranked in search results.
- Action: If your Shopify store uses a custom featured or best-selling sort order, you must provide a clear tooltip or link explaining the ranking logic (e.g., "Products are ranked based on a combination of sales volume, inventory levels, and promotional relevance").
8. Total Price Display (Ending Drip Pricing)
2026 enforcement focuses heavily on drip pricing: adding unavoidable fees late in the checkout process.
- Action: Ensure the price displayed on the Product Detail Page (PDP) includes all non-optional taxes. If you have a standard flat-rate shipping fee that applies to most orders, transparency is improved by displaying the "Starting from..." price early in the checkout process.
9. The Audit Trail Verification
In the event of a legal audit, you must be able to prove why a certain price was shown.
- Action: Verify that your compliance tool provides an exportable log of price changes. A good solution keeps a record that protects the merchant during a regulatory check.
Summary Checklist for Quick Reference
- 30-Day Floor: Is the reference price the absolute lowest in 30 days?
- Currency/market sync: Does the price match the local currency and market?
- Visual proximity: Is the info right next to the sale price?
- GPSR data: Are manufacturer contact details visible on the PDP?
- AI disclosure: Are customers informed if AI is handling the review data?
- Search & Ranking Transparency: Have you disclosed the main parameters (e.g., sales, profit, or promotion) used to rank products in search results?
- Total Price Display: Does the price shown on the PDP include all non-optional taxes and fees to avoid drip pricing penalties?
- Audit Trail: Confirm your system can export a historical price log for legal verification.
Frequent Myths vs. Reality
Myth: Omnibus applies only to large retailers.
Reality: it’s false.
Omnibus Directive applies to all B2C sellers in the EU, regardless of size.
Myth: I can use any sales app from the App Store.
Reality: it’s false.
Most sales apps only change prices; they don't record the 30-day history required for a legal audit.
Myth: It’s enough to mention the 30-day price in the footer.
Reality: it’s false.
The law requires the information to be clear and unambiguous at the point of the price reduction (usually right next to the sale price).
Myth: "I can use the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) as the 30-day reference."
Reality: it’s false.
The reference price must be the lowest price you (the seller) actually charged on that specific storefront in the last 30 days. MSRP is a separate data point and cannot replace the Omnibus lowest-price mandate.
Myth: "The rule only applies during major events like Black Friday."
Reality: it’s false.
It applies to any announcement of a price reduction. Whether it’s a site-wide clearance or a single product markdown, the historical reference must be displayed.
Myth: "Flash sales (under 24 hours) are exempt from tracking."
Reality: it’s false.
Duration does not grant exemption. Even a 2-hour promotion requires disclosing the lowest price from the preceding 30 days to prevent deceptive anchor pricing.
Myth: "If I sell in multiple EU countries, one lowest price is enough."
Reality: it’s false.
Price transparency is market-specific. If your price in Germany was €80 but in France it was €70, you must display the correct local history for each market via Shopify Markets logic.
Myth: "I can reset the 30-day clock by briefly removing the product from the store."
Reality: it’s false.
Regulators view this as an attempt to circumvent the law. The 30-day lookback period is based on the calendar, not on product visibility or active status in the Shopify admin.
Myth: "Personalized discount codes trigger Omnibus requirements.”
Reality: it’s usually false.
Codes sent to a specific user (e.g., a Happy Birthday 10% off code) typically do not count as a public announcement of a price reduction. However, a public banner saying "Use code SAVE20" is a public announcement and requires compliance.
The Continuous Discount Myth
A common strategy is to keep a product on sale for months. Merchants often believe they can keep using the original pre-sale price as the reference forever.
Reality: The lowest price in the last 30 days is a rolling window. If you have been running a sale at €80 (down from €100) for more than 30 days, then €80 becomes your new lowest price in the last 30 days. If you then want to drop the price further to €70, you cannot claim a discount relative to €100; your reference price is now €80.
Quick Tip: In 2026, regulatory authorities increasingly use automated crawlers to monitor price changes. If your Shopify theme uses a lazy load for the Omnibus widget that takes more than 2 seconds to appear, or if it’s hidden behind a hover effect, it may be flagged as unclear information. Ensure your compliance tool is integrated into the Liquid/JSON template for instant server-side or high-priority client-side rendering.
Summary: Solving the Compliance Problem
As regulators move toward automated enforcement, the technical gap between a standard theme and a compliant store has widened. Simply using the compare_at_price field is a liability that exposes you to fines of up to 4% of annual turnover.
True compliance requires a shift from manual updates to a verifiable data strategy. This means:
- Automating the 30-day price floor to eliminate human error.
- Integrating GPSR safety data at the SKU level to meet new transparency mandates.
- Disclosing AI-driven reviews to maintain consumer trust.
Whether you are an agency managing a portfolio of stores or a high-growth merchant, the goal is the same: compliance should be invisible to your workflow but undeniable to an auditor.
Our Omnibus Price History by Netkodo app was developed to provide a reliable, responsible, and fully automated solution that takes the burden of ensuring 30-day price-compliance off your shoulders.
