Supermarkets escape censure from competition authority
SUPERMARKETS have avoided major criticism after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated a super-complaint by Which? about misleading pricing and promotions.
“Was/Now” promotions came under scrutiny because of some examples of discounted prices being advertised for far longer than the higher, original price, while unit pricing, price-matching schemes and changing pack sizes were also examined.
In its investigation the CMA found examples of pricing and promotional practices that it said “have the potential to confuse or mislead consumers” but did not find it to be widespread and judged that “retailers are taking compliance seriously to avoid such problems occurring”.
The CMA has announced a series of measures which are designed to improve compliance, bring greater clarity to shoppers and simplify the regulations.
“We welcomed the super-complaint, which presented us with information that demanded closer inspection,” said CMA senior director Nisha Arora.
“We have found that, whilst supermarkets want to comply with the law and shoppers enjoy a wide range of choices, with an estimated 40% of grocery spending being on items on promotion, there are still areas of poor practice that could confuse or mislead shoppers. So we are recommending further action to improve compliance and ensure that shoppers have clear, accurate information.”
The CMA had 90 days to respond to the Which? super-complaint and gathered information from retailers, manufacturers, consumers and advice bodies, and also commissioned third party data and surveys on pricing practices.
