17 Oct
2026
October 1 was a quiet but meaningful date for retail regulation. On opposite sides of the Atlantic, two very different rules took effect that target the same thing: the mechanics of how a sale is engineered. New York City's click-to-cancel rule for automatic renewals came into force, and Scotland began restricting how stores promote and position foods high in fat, sugar or salt. Meanwhile in Washington, the Federal Trade Commission is weighing how retailers should disclose prices tailored to individual shoppers.
None of these rules is enormous on its own. Together they point to a shift that every retailer and ecommerce brand should notice. Regulators are moving past the price tag and the product label and into the design choices behind checkout flows, promotions and pricing algorithms.
New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection adopted a rule on automatic renewal and continuous service offers on July 10, 2026, and it entered into force on October 1, according to Digital Policy Alert's record of the measure. The rule adds sections 5-110 through 5-110.3 to Title 6 of the Rules of the City of New York and implements Executive Order No. 10. The agency's announcement was titled "Mayor Mamdani Announces Landmark 'Click-To-Cancel' Consumer Protection Rules to Ban Subscription Traps and Junk Fees."
The detailed obligations sit in the city's official notice of adoption, and any business that sells subscriptions to New York City residents should read that text directly rather than relying on summaries. But the direction is unmistakable. "Click to cancel" has become shorthand for a simple principle: leaving a subscription should be about as easy as joining it. A city-level rule matters because New York is one of the largest consumer markets in the country, and ecommerce brands rarely build separate checkout flows for individual cities. In practice, a rule in a market that size tends to become the design standard for everyone.
Also from October 1, Scotland's restrictions on foods high in fat, sugar or salt, known as HFSS, took effect. The Scottish Government laid the regulations on October 31, 2025, according to the Association of Convenience Stores. The rules cover two areas:
The location rules apply to retailers with 50 or more employees and relevant floor space over 2,000 square feet, while the promotion rules apply to retailers with 50 or more employees regardless of store size. Small businesses are exempt, and symbol groups are treated as a single business. ACS notes that the Scottish rules closely match England's, which has restricted HFSS locations since October 2022 and introduced volume promotion restrictions in October 2025, while Wales's rules came into force on March 26, 2026. The key difference is enforcement: in Scotland, a breach can result in a fine of up to £2,500.
This is the same pattern seen in New York, applied to a different product. The regulator is not banning the product. It is limiting the techniques used to nudge people toward it: placement at the checkout, volume deals that encourage buying more than intended.
In the United States, the most consequential pricing debate is still in draft. The FTC announced a draft policy statement on personalized pricing in an August 19 press release, taking the position that using personal data to set individualized prices without clear disclosures may be deceptive, according to a retail and consumer products law roundup of FTC activity. The Associated Press, as listed on Broadband Breakfast, described the proposal as requiring retailers to disclose personalized pricing and said the agency opened a 30-day comment period. The same FTC roundup reports that the comment period was later extended.
The roundup also shows how active the agency has been on pricing and marketing claims. In the first week of October it targeted deceptive pricing in healthcare, auto and retail. Earlier, it announced $930,000 in penalties against Cox Media Group and two affiliates over deceptive claims about AI advertising, and in July it sent warning letters to companies whose products were allegedly imported in whole or significant part despite "Made in USA" claims.
It would be easy to treat a New York subscription rule, a Scottish food rule and a draft FTC pricing statement as unrelated. They are not. Each targets a point in the buying journey where the seller controls the design and the customer has limited visibility:
For brands, the lesson is that "conversion optimization" now carries regulatory risk when it relies on friction, pressure or information the customer does not have. Tactics that once lived only in A/B testing dashboards are increasingly the subject of rules.
Three developments will shape the next few months. First, how New York City's consumer protection agency enforces its new rule, and whether other cities or states follow with similar requirements. Second, whether the FTC finalizes its personalized pricing policy statement and what disclosures it expects. Third, how Scottish enforcement compares with England's approach now that both regimes are live. The common thread is clear enough already: regulators are paying attention to how sales are engineered, not just what is sold. Brands that build transparent, low-friction experiences now will spend far less time rebuilding them later under pressure.
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