Price Timeline
The Price Timeline page shows what an item actually cost on a channel: every price the engine put into force — calculated regularly, approved or as a promotion — with the day it took effect. The newest row is on top. From this timeline the engine determines the reference price every advertised price reduction has to be measured against.
How to get there: In the Price Cockpit, select the row and choose the Price Timeline action — the page opens on exactly that item and channel. Unfiltered, search for Price Timeline.
Not to be confused with the calculation history
Calculation History in the cockpit shows why a price is what it is — margin, fees, rounding, rejected calculations included (Calculation Log). The Price Timeline only shows which price applied from when.
The columns
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Valid From | The day the price took effect. It stayed in force until the next entry of the same item and channel |
| Price List Code | The sales channel the price was published on |
| Item No. / Description | The item |
| Price | The price that was put into force |
| Unit of Measure Code | The unit of measure the price was written for. Only prices of the item's current sales unit count towards the reference price. Empty on entries from before the engine recorded the unit |
| Prices Including VAT | Whether the price is recorded gross or net — gross and net entries are never compared with each other |
| Currency Code | The currency the price was published in |
| Origin | What put the price into force: Regular Price, Promotional Price (highlighted) or Approved Price |
| Recorded At | When the entry was written — hidden by default |
The page is read-only: entries cannot be created, changed or deleted.
What the reference price is for
Since 28 May 2022 a price reduction may only be advertised against the lowest total price of the last 30 days (section 11 of the German Price Indication Ordinance, PAngV). The European Court of Justice tightened this in September 2024 (C-330/23): the advertised percentage has to be calculated against that price — naming it in a footnote is not enough. Violations can be subject to cease-and-desist warnings.
That is why the engine calculates along as soon as you create a promotion in the cockpit via Promotional Price.... The Price Reduction Check section shows:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Lowest Price (30 Days) | The reference price the reduction has to be measured against |
| Actual Reduction % | How far the promotional price really is below it — the figure you may advertise |
| Advertised Reduction % | What you want to advertise. Leave at 0 if you advertise no percentage |
| Assessment | Whether your percentage holds up |
If the advertised percentage is not supported, the engine asks before creating the promotion and shows the concrete figures. You can still create the promotion — the check is an airbag, not a handbrake. What must not happen is that the figure goes out without anybody having seen it.
Example
Your list price is 129.00, the item sold for 90.00 for two weeks, the promotion is to cost 79.00. Against the list that looks like −38.8 %. But the reference price is 90.00 — the real reduction is −12.2 %, and you may not advertise more.
How the engine determines the reference price
Reference price = the lowest price of the 30 days before the first day of the promotion. The following applies:
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| The price at the start of the window counts too | A price that already applied before the 30 days and has not changed since is the most common reference price of all. At the start of the window the minimum of the regular price and every promotion still running on that day counts |
| Same gross/net basis only | The reference price is the total price a consumer pays. Entries from before the channel was switched from net to gross (or the other way round) are left out |
| Same sales unit only | If you sold an item by the carton of 6 until now and by the piece from today, the carton price is no yardstick for the piece price. After a change of the sales unit there is therefore no reference price at first — a price in the new unit counts once it has applied for at least one day |
| Old entries without a unit | For entries from before the engine recorded the unit, the update filled it in from the matching price list line where that was unambiguous. An entry with an empty Unit of Measure Code still counts on items with one item unit of measure. On items with several item units of measure — pure purchase units such as a pallet included — there is no reference price as long as such an entry matters within the 30 days |
If there is no reference price, the check says so when you create the promotion: there is then nothing to advertise a reduction against — sell at the promotional price without claiming a percentage, or wait until the timeline covers the period. When in doubt, the engine rather names no reference price than one that is too high.
When old entries without a unit matter
After the update, temporarily on items with several units whose price changed in the 30 days before — and until the price changes, where the running price line matches no entry unambiguously, for example because it was changed by hand.
What the engine deliberately does not decide
- Stepwise reductions: section 11 (2) PAngV allows a higher reference price for an uninterrupted stepwise reduction. The engine does not apply this exception automatically — it would raise the discount that may be advertised, and applied wrongly it produces exactly the overstated discount the check is meant to prevent. The engine always names the conservative figure; whether the exception applies is for a person to judge. The price timeline holds everything needed to argue it.
- Gross against net: never compared.
- Different sales units: never compared.
More: Price Cockpit · Troubleshooting