Retail Law Roundup: March 2025

Welcome to our Retail Law Roundup, where we share legal updates for retailers and brands.

This month we’re launching our series of articles on hot topics in consumer law, with a look at harmful online choice architecture and dark patterns.

Our other articles this month look at the rules for online retailers selling knives, a warning from the ICO that advertising cookies must be compliant with data protection rules, and the latest Employment Tribunal case regarding pay disparities between retail employees and distribution centre employees.

We welcome your feedback and suggestions for future topics – we want to ensure our communications are valuable to you and your business.

Consumer Law enforcement: Hot topics - harmful online choice architecture and dark patterns

With the CMA’s consumer protection enforcement powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) due to come into effect next month, we take a look in this article at one of the CMA’s enforcement priorities – harmful online choice architecture – which is very likely to be a key area in which the CMA will look to exercise its new direct enforcement powers.

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Ronan’s Law: Will bring in new laws to strengthen the rules for online retailers selling knives

The Government has an ambitious mission to halve knife crime over the coming decade and a key part of that plan is tackling what it sees as an issue with the control of online sales of knives to young people.

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Why digital marketers need to comply with cookie regulations to avoid their campaigns being disrupted

In addition to the Consumer Contracts Regulations, a key consideration for online retail is the capture and storage of personal and financial data. Advertising cookies play a crucial role in many types of digital marketing strategies and can create tailored user experiences by tracking interactions with ads, websites, and content.

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That’s Asda price: Tribunal considers that retail roles are of equal value to distribution centre jobs

The Equality Act 2010 allows employees to claim that they are performing work of equal value to higher-paid colleagues of the opposite sex. In this instance, female retail staff argued that they performed work of equal value to staff in the distribution centre roles, which were predominantly undertaken by male employees.

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