Rewarding retailers in Algeria: the legal framework you need to know

Sales with a premium: Law 04-02

Law 04-02 of 23 June 2004 sets the rules for commercial practices. Article 16 covers sales that come with a premium: in principle, you may not tie the free supply of a good or service to a sale, unless the premium is identical to the product sold and its value stays within 10% of the sale amount. Small items, low-value services and samples are covered by an exception.

In other words, “buy a hundred cases, get a television” is precisely what the text is aimed at.

What this suggests for a retailer programme

A programme is more than gifts in exchange for purchases. Several structures exist, and it is for your lawyer to say which ones suit your case:

• Paying for a service. The shop promotes your products, maintains a display, sends in a survey: that is a merchandising service, which can be framed by an agreement and paid for.
• Granting a discount. Points turn into a discount or rebate on an invoice, borne by you or by your distributor.
• Giving the same product. Free units of the product purchased, within the limit set by the text.
• Keeping to small items. Display material, small pieces of shop equipment, promotional items.

In Loyaltix, this comes down to settings: what earns points (missions and not purchases, for example), and what the catalogue offers. The tool adapts to the framework you have had approved. It does not choose it for you.

Raffles and games: take care

Prize draws and games with winnings fall under their own rules, which we have not found clearly set out in reliable public sources. Our recommendation is simple: no prize draw without written approval from your adviser. The feature exists in the platform. It is switched off by default.

Personal data: Law 18-07

Law 18-07 of 10 June 2018 protects individuals in the processing of their personal data. It was amended in 2025 by a text that tightens the obligations on organisations: appointing a data protection officer, keeping records, impact assessments for certain kinds of processing.

A retailer programme is affected as soon as it records a shop manager's name and phone number. In practice, three topics keep coming up:

• Consent. The member must know what is collected and why, and agree to it when signing up.
• Individuals' rights. Being able to give a member their data, correct it and erase it.
• Where the data is hosted. Transferring data outside Algeria is regulated and subject to the national authority. Hosting in the country avoids the question.

Payments and cashback

Paying money to a shopkeeper, for example into a CCP account or a mobile wallet, means going through a licensed institution or payment provider. A brand or an agency cannot itself hold funds on behalf of its retailers. If cashback interests you, the first step is to talk to your bank.

Five questions to ask your lawyer

• Is our points scheme a premium tied to a sale, a discount, or payment for a service?
• Do we need a written agreement with each shop for merchandising missions?
• Which rewards in our catalogue fall within the exceptions provided by the law?
• What formalities must we complete under Law 18-07 before signing up the first members?
• Can we run a prize draw, and on what conditions?

On request, we can send you the list of texts we consulted. See also our page on Algeria.