The European Commission has published its draft regulations and guidelines on Vertical Restraints Regulation (VRR) and offered more safeguards to online-only businesses than many had expected. This is good news as it preserves the consumer's right to choose - which is what this blog's ethos is all about.

Online price comparison site Pricerunner has taken the next step and compared prices offline as well - and it's not good news for the buyer, who is paying an average of 31.79% higher than the online cost when the go into a shop. The company did a mystery shopping exercise in several cities in the UK. It appears Manchester is where you'll find the highest differential, where a basket of 10 items cost £562 more then the online cost of £1785.11.

The deadline for changes to the Vertical Restraints Regulations in Europe, which could result in manufacturers being able to discriminate against outlets which have only an online presence rather than bricks and mortar as well, is only five days away. There is still time to make your views known. An EUBusiness.com report has more of the [...]