A3 Legislation and Safety Considerations
Unit 16: Visual Merchandising
Point of sale (POS) and ticketing:
Price marking regulation: The Price Marking Order 2004 requires businesses to clearly display the price of the product including VAT in writing for any products they sell. In a store, this would usually be on the shelf directly in front of the product or on a sticker stuck to the product itself. The price must be displayed in sterling (GBP), display the unit price (price per single item) and use metric measures (kg, cm and litres) unless or exempt products. When selling online, the selling price should be clearly presented as part of the product description. This regulation only applies to physical products and does not apply to services.
Product labelling regulations: There are no specific laws about what needs to be included on the labels of products but any information must accurate to avoid misleading the consumer. This includes quantity, size, composition, origin and associated people or organisations. Any products that may be dangerous must include safety information. There are special rules for retailers that sell precious metals, footwear, food and drink and products for children. See here for more information https://www.gov.uk/product-labelling-the-law#:~:text=You%20don%27t%20have%20to,quantity%20or%20size.
Trade description legislation. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading 2008 was established to regulate business to consumer interactions. This is to protect the consumer from unfair trading practices that may lead to a sale. Unfair practices include misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive sales practices.
Read more about the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading regulations here.
There are 3 main pieces of legislation that cover food retailers. The Food Safety Act 1990 prevents businesses from selling food that could damage the health of people eating it is of expected quality and is without misleading information. The General Food Regulations 2004 focuses on the hygiene of food and sets out hygiene expectations of food establishments. This includes rules for dealing with animal products intended for human consumption. and The Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations 2013 set out expectations of local authorities to monitor food standards in their area. This includes having processes in place to restrict the sale of inappropriate foods and to check the origins of food. It is also expected that local authorities develop relationships with businesses to collaborate on food standards.
You can visit the Food Standards Agency website for more information on selling food in the UK.
Display safety: height of merchandise, stability, weight distribution/capacity, correct temperature, signage.