Supermarket 'special offers' are not so special, consumer watchdog says

The super-complaint lodged by Which? is a kind of formal request for an investigation into an issue that could be harming consumers’ interests – and with annual sales of groceries and toiletries amounting to £115 billion, there is quite a lot at stake for consumers. The CMA has 90 days to reply.

Many of the complaints are about the unfair pricing of products that mislead consumers into thinking they’re getting a good deal.

Here are some of the tricks supermarkets use according to Which?: Carex Aloe Vera & Eucalyptus Handwash was on offer at Sainsbury’s for 84 days.

The use of a higher ‘was’ price where the item has been available for longer at the lower price.

Sainsbury’s sold Carex Aloe Vera & Eucalyptus Handwash at a higher price of £1.80 for seven days before it went on ‘offer’ at 90p for 84 days.

Asda increased the normal price of Uncle Ben’s rice from £1 to £1.58 as it went onto a ‘2 for £3′ multi-buy, then returned it to £1  

Prices increasing when going on multi-buy so that the saving is less than claimed or non-existent.

In some examples, products were more expensive when they are included in the multibuy rather than when they were sold individually, before or after the offer.

Asda increased the normal price of Uncle Ben’s rice from £1 to £1.58 as it went onto a ‘2 for £3′ multi-buy, then returned it to £1 when the multi-buy ended – making it 50p more expensive per pack. A Cadbury’s Giant Easter Egg was on a ‘special offer’ price for the whole of the Easter season

A Cadbury’s Giant Easter Egg sold in Tesco and Sainsbury’s was priced at £10 out of season in 2014. For the whole of the Easter season leading up to 31 March 31, it was on seasonal ‘offer’ at lower prices.

Tesco sold four cans of Green Giant Original Sweetcorn for £2 (was £2.44) but six cans were more expensive per unit  

Larger pack/better value offers, where the unit price of the bigger pack is actually more expensive.

Tesco sold four cans of Green Giant Original Sweetcorn for £2 (was £2.44) but six cans were more expensive per unit, at £3.56. Despite this, the larger pack was advertised as ‘special value’

Tim Ironside, director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, spoke on behalf of the supermarkets implicated in the complaint to reject the implications of the Which? complaint.

"With a consultation expected soon on a revised Pricing Practices Guide, it would seem sensible to consider the issues raised in the super-complaint as part of that process," Ironside said.

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