Unit price on Shopify: the rules and how to display it

What is the unit price?

The unit price is the price expressed per unit of measure — per kilogram, litre, metre, square metre or cubic metre — including VAT and all other taxes.

It comes from EU Directive 98/6/EC on the indication of prices. Its stated purpose is to let consumers compare packages of different sizes. Each member state has transposed it into national law.

Who does it apply to?

The obligation covers sales to consumers (B2C), both in physical shops and online. Business-to-business sales are out of scope.

It applies to goods sold by weight, volume, length or area. The most exposed categories are:

• Fine grocery and food (oil, honey, coffee, spices, dry goods)
• Bulk and loose products
• Cosmetics and personal care (creams, shampoos, oils)
• Supplements (powders, products sold by weight)
• Drugstore and cleaning products (detergents, cleaners)

Which reference unit?

The directive uses the kilogram, litre, metre, square metre or cubic metre as the reference. Member states may adapt this for certain products, in particular small packages.

One nuance worth knowing if you sell into Germany: as of 28 May 2022 the German rules removed the option to express the price per 100 g or 100 ml for small packages — the reference there is always the kilogram or litre. If you sell across several markets, check the expected unit for each.

How it must be displayed

The indication must be unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible, and it belongs right next to the selling price.

What is not enough: putting the unit price behind a link, a tooltip or a mouse-over. It has to be visible directly — on the product page, and also in collection listings, the cart and checkout.

Doing it on Shopify

Shopify does have a native per-variant unit price field, but it has two practical limits: you enter the quantity and unit by hand for every single variant, and whether it actually renders depends on your theme. On a catalog of a few hundred SKUs this becomes tedious work with gaps.

That is why we built Unit Price Pro: the net content can be auto-filled from the variant weights you already have, the unit price is computed live in the theme (so it stays correct on sale, in every currency and across Markets), and a compliance report shows you at a glance which products are still missing data.

Frequently asked questions

Does the unit price need to appear on collection pages too?

Yes. Wherever a price is shown for an affected product, the unit price belongs with it — collections, search results and the cart included.

What about products sold per item?

A product offered by the piece rather than by weight or volume generally does not require a price per unit of measure.

Does it have to follow discounts?

Yes — what counts is the price actually paid. A hardcoded value becomes wrong the moment the price changes, which is why it should be calculated from the current price.