Anchored Prices 2026 – Everything You Need to Know

If you run a retail business, an online store or a service-based company in Croatia, you may have already heard about the new reference price requirements, commonly known in Croatian as sidrene cijene.

These rules are intended to make pricing more transparent by allowing customers to compare current prices with prices that applied on a specific date in the past.

The changes are particularly relevant to businesses selling products or services online, including those using WordPress and WooCommerce.

In addition to displaying reference prices, the regulatory framework also introduces requirements for publishing digital price lists in machine-readable formats.

What exactly are reference prices, which businesses are affected, and how can you prepare your website?

Here is an overview of the most important requirements and practical steps.

What are reference prices?

A reference price is the price of a product or service that applied on a particular date in the past.

Its purpose is to help customers compare the current selling price with a historical price established by regulation.

For example, imagine that a product currently costs €100, while its regular price on 10 September 2026 was €80.

The price information could be displayed as follows:

• Current price: €100
• Price on 10 September 2026: €80

This makes it easier for customers to understand how the price has changed over time.

Importantly, a reference price is not the same as a promotional or discounted price. It is additional historical pricing information.

When do the new reference price requirements take effect?

In September 2026, the Croatian Government adopted decisions expanding the requirements for displaying additional prices and publishing digital price lists.

The original implementation date was 1 October 2026.

However, the Government subsequently postponed the introduction of these requirements until 17 November 2026.

The extension was intended to give businesses more time to adapt their pricing systems, websites and internal processes.

The Ministry of Economy has also prepared new implementing regulations to establish a more permanent framework.

Draft regulations were published for public consultation on 14 October 2026.

Because the final regulations may introduce additional clarifications and exceptions, businesses should follow official announcements before making their final changes.

Which historical dates are used for reference prices?

The published decisions distinguish between two important reference dates.

10 September 2026

This date applies to products and services newly included in the expanded requirements.

Examples include clothing, footwear, electronics, furniture and various services.

2 May 2025

Certain categories of frequently purchased consumer goods were already covered by earlier reference pricing measures.

These categories include food, beverages, cosmetics, cleaning products, toiletries and household products.

For these previously covered categories, the earlier reference date remains applicable.

Businesses do not have to display two separate reference prices for the same product simply because a new reference date was introduced for other categories.

Which businesses are affected?

The September decisions cover retailers and service providers operating in the Croatian consumer market.

This includes many physical retailers, online stores, tradespeople and service-based businesses.

However, the rules may apply differently depending on the type of business and the way its prices are determined.

Important distinctions include:

• Products with fixed retail prices
• Services with published price lists
• Custom-made products and individually quoted services
• Services with variable or dynamic pricing
• Businesses that do not sell directly to consumers

In October, the Croatian Ministry of Economy announced proposed exceptions for certain personalised and dynamically priced services, as well as pricing through intermediary platforms.

If your company mainly provides services through individual quotations, do not automatically assume that every quoted amount needs to be treated in the same way as a standard retail price.

The applicable requirements should be assessed against the final regulations and your particular business model.

Do reference prices need to appear on your website?

If your website displays retail prices for products or services, you should check whether those prices must be accompanied by the relevant historical reference prices.

According to the Ministry’s September guidance, the additional price should be clearly visible next to the current price.

For example, a WooCommerce product page might display:

Ceramic decoration

Current price: €25

Price on 10 September 2026: €22

This allows customers to compare prices without visiting another page.

For WordPress and WooCommerce websites, displaying reference prices may require additional product fields and modifications to the product templates.

Stores with product variations, special offers or complex pricing structures may require more extensive adjustments.

What is a digital price list in XML or CSV format?

In addition to displaying prices, the postponed Croatian decision on publishing price lists introduces requirements for making pricing information available in a machine-readable format.

Two formats are specified:

CSV (Comma-Separated Values)

A simple text-based format that organises information into rows and columns.

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

A structured format commonly used for exchanging information between software systems.

Unlike a conventional PDF price list, these formats allow computer programs to automatically retrieve and process pricing information.

What information must a digital price list contain?

Under the postponed decision, product price lists are expected to contain information such as:

• Product name and identification code
• Brand and unit of measurement, where applicable
• Current retail price
• Historical reference price
• Information about special sales or promotions
• Barcode and product availability

A simpler set of data is specified for services, including the service name, current price and reference price.

The final structure and technical requirements should be verified once the new regulations have been adopted.

Does every business website need an XML or CSV price list?

Under the postponed decision and the Ministry’s earlier guidance, the obligation to publish digital price lists applies to covered retailers and service providers that already operate a website.

This includes websites used primarily to present a business and its services.

A Facebook page or Instagram profile alone is not considered a business website for this purpose.

It is also important to distinguish between displaying prices to customers and publishing a downloadable digital price list.

These are separate requirements.

As the new implementing regulations are still being finalised, businesses should verify whether any sector-specific exceptions apply.

How often must digital price lists be updated?

Updating digital price lists is one of the more important technical requirements.

The September 2026 decision specifies:

• Retailers should update their price lists on working days by 8:00 a.m.
• Service providers should update their price lists when prices change, by 8:00 a.m. on the applicable update date.
• Previously published price lists should remain available for 30 days.

However, the October draft regulations propose changes to the way updates are scheduled.

According to information published by the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts, the draft would make updates dependent on actual price changes instead of requiring repeated publication of unchanged price lists.

Businesses should therefore confirm the final update deadlines and publication requirements before automating their systems.

How can WordPress and WooCommerce websites be adapted?

If your business uses WordPress or WooCommerce, several parts of the compliance process can potentially be automated.

Depending on your business and the final requirements, the following steps may be necessary.

1. Record historical reference prices

The first step is to identify the prices that applied on the relevant reference date.

These values can be stored in dedicated fields within WordPress or in an external pricing database connected to your online store.

2. Display prices correctly

Product and service page templates can be modified to show the reference price alongside the current retail price.

The presentation should be clear, accessible and understandable to customers.

3. Generate machine-readable price lists

For online stores with a large number of products, a custom solution can generate XML or CSV files directly from product data.

This can reduce the need to enter the same pricing information manually in several places.

4. Publish and archive price lists

The generated files should be publicly accessible in accordance with the applicable regulations.

If historical price lists must be retained, the system can also archive previous versions automatically.

5. Test the implementation

Before publishing, check that reference prices are correct and that the generated files contain the expected information.

For WooCommerce stores, particular attention should be paid to product variations, discounts and out-of-stock products.

Frequently asked questions about reference prices in Croatia

What if a product was introduced after 10 September 2026?

According to the September guidance, newly introduced products and services use the initial selling price as their additional reference price, accompanied by the relevant date.

The final implementing regulations should be checked for any changes to this treatment.

Can the current price and reference price be identical?

Yes. If the price has not changed since the applicable reference date, the two values may be identical.

Is a reference price the same as the lowest price in the previous 30 days?

No.

Reference prices are linked to a specific historical date, while the lowest-price rules relate to certain price reductions and promotional sales.

Depending on the circumstances, both types of information may need to be displayed.

What happens if my company provides individually quoted services?

Earlier guidance addressed services without a predetermined fixed price by referring to the individual pricing elements used to calculate the final amount.

The newer draft regulations also propose exceptions for certain personalised and dynamically priced services.

Businesses using custom quotations should check the final regulations before deciding how to display these prices.

Do I need a completely new website to comply?

Not necessarily.

An existing WordPress or WooCommerce website can often be adapted through additional pricing fields, template changes and automated price-list generation.

The required work will depend on the current website and its technical setup.

Final thoughts

Croatia’s reference pricing rules aim to improve pricing transparency and provide consumers with clearer information.

For businesses, the changes may involve recording historical prices, updating how prices are displayed and publishing digital price lists.

If you use WordPress or WooCommerce, some of these tasks can be simplified with a properly designed technical solution.

Need help adapting your WordPress website or WooCommerce store?

At Web Dance Development, I build and customise WordPress websites and WooCommerce online stores.

If you need technical assistance with displaying reference prices or implementing XML and CSV price lists, feel free to get in touch through my contact form.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Businesses should consult the applicable Croatian regulations and official guidance for their individual circumstances.