AUSTRALIA | CHOICE welcomed the Federal Court’s judgment in the ACCC’s case against Coles regarding ‘Down Down’ promotions.
It was found that 13 out of 14 examples of ‘Down Down’ pricing misled consumers and that the discounts were not genuine because those products weren’t sold at the previous ‘was’ price for reasonable periods of time.
Andy Kelly, Director of Campaigns at CHOICE, said that while the judgment is good news to hold supermarkets accountable for clear, transparent pricing, it reinforces the need for stronger pricing reforms.
At a time when many households are facing cost-of-living pressures, Kelly said it was more important than ever for consumers to be able to trust that promotions reflect genuine discounts.
Hiking prices whilst telling consumers that prices are down has allowed Coles to have its cake and eat it too.
“The Nature’s Gift dog food ‘Down Down’ promotion was found not to be misleading as the tag did not include a ‘was’ price, despite having only been sold at a higher price for one week. Without requiring supermarkets to publish the previous price of the product, supermarkets could potentially remove the ‘was’ price and continue to engage in similar conduct," he added.
“We continue to call on the Federal Government to implement the ACCC supermarkets inquiry recommendations in full, by introducing minimum information requirements for price displays and discount promotions, including the previous price of the product, the date range over which that previous price applied, and the percentage of the discount.”
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