AUS | A new survey of almost 11,000 CHOICE supporters has found that 83 percent of respondents think some Coles and Woolworths ‘specials’ or promotions make it challenging to know if you’re getting a genuine discount or value for money.
“While the two major supermarkets each post over a billion dollars in profit, many households are at a breaking point from the rising cost of food. To make matters worse, supermarkets are using several confusing promotional practices that make it difficult for customers to work out if they’re saving money on groceries,” said CHOICE Senior Campaigns and Policy Advisor Bea Sherwood.
“Over the past year, CHOICE has found countless examples of dodgy and confusing specials at both Coles and Woolworths. In December last year, Coles was forced to apologise after they were caught red-handed raising prices on products they had promised would remain ‘locked’ for a certain period.
CHOICE has submitted to the Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices inquiry and calls on the government to force supermarkets to use fair and transparent pricing. CHOICE has made several recommendations, including:
- Banning unfair pricing practices, such as ‘member-only’ discounts
- Introducing rules about discounts or other promotions and how these should be presented
- Enforcing and expanding the Grocery Unit Pricing Code
- Requiring supermarkets to publish historical grocery pricing information
- Reforming competition and consumer laws to ensure the ACCC has the power to hold supermarkets accountable.
“Consumers deserve clear and transparent pricing to be sure they’re getting value for money. We need new rules to force the supermarkets to provide this transparency and powers for the regulator to ensure the supermarket giants play fairly.”
