Retailers in North Macedonia, excluding those with fewer than 10 employees, are now legally required to list the prices of all their products online, following the introduction of new rules on 18 April.
The daily product prices will be shared in a dedicated ‘Price List‘ section and can be accessed without the need for registration or additional notification.
For each store, retailers must update their online price lists daily by 10:00 hours, with a 24-hour window to correct unintentional errors.
The price list includes details such as the product name, regular price, promotional price (along with the duration of the promotion), unit price, and availability.
Promotional prices must also display the original price and the discount amount or percentage, along with the duration of the promotion.
This applies to stores selling basic food products, fruit and vegetables, hygiene products, white goods, toys, textile products, construction materials, tools, and electrical appliances.
Price Transparency
This amendment to the Consumer Protection Law, officially announced on 4 March, aims to increase price transparency, enabling consumers to compare prices easily and potentially driving down costs.
The Ministry of Economy, which has also created guidelines detailing how these prices should be displayed, expects this measure to empower consumers and promote competition.
Market inspectors will enforce the law, and retailers face fines of up to €10,000 if they fail to display daily product prices on their websites.
While the Chamber of Wholesale and Retail Traders has requested an extension, the economy minister, Besar Durmisi, stated that businesses have had sufficient time to adapt.
Meanwhile, price controls on essential food and hygiene products are set to expire at the end of April. Minister Durmisi stated that his ministry will continue to monitor the situation and may implement new measures if inflation rises.
He believes the current controls, including limiting profit margins on 102 product groups and setting maximum prices on eight food groups, have been effective, citing a decrease in March inflation.