Supermarkets sign up to code for fairer pricing following OFT investigation

Following the discussions on HOL about odd pricing in supermarkets, it may interest people that after concerns about the way prices are displayed, advertised and promoted, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have investigated pricing practices in supermarkets.

Eight supermarkets have agreed to sign up to OFT principles to make sure discounts and special offers are fairer, meaningful, accurate and consistent. These are Aldi, Co-Op, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.

The principles say that prices must not be artificially inflated to make discounts look more attractive. So a product can’t be sold at a higher price than it normally would be, to make the usual price look like a discount.

Prices can only be presented as a discount for the same, or less time than the product was sold at a higher price. So if a product is sold at £3 for a month then reduced to £2, any promotional stickers saying ‘was £3, now £2’ must be removed after a month is up.

If a product is marked ‘better value’ because it’s in a bigger pack, there mustn’t be a cheaper way of buying that product in the same volume in the same store. If a ‘buy one get one free’ offer is on or if there is a cheaper price offered to ‘multibuy’ smaller packs, then any larger packs marked ‘better value’ must have a lower unit price.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 exists to protect shoppers against misleading trading. These OFT principles aim to iron out inconsistencies in applying this law, so that special offers and promotions are trusted as bargains by shoppers.

Find out more at the OFT website