The way supermarkets print out their price labels is ‘inconsistent’, a competitions regulator has found (Picture: Getty Images)
Supermarket giants have been told to make their prices more transparent to help shoppers cope amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The UK’s competition watchdog has spent the last two months reviewing supermarket aisles to check whether food prices are clearly and fairly displayed.
But according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), not all grocers are doing this, leaving some shoppers out of pocket as they lose out on deals.
All retailers need to ‘make the necessary changes or risk facing enforcement action’, the CMA said in its preliminary report today.
As an anti-trust regulator, the CMA can investigate businesses, hand out civil sanctions for non-compliance and recommend the Government change policy.
‘With so many people struggling to feed their families, it’s vital that we do everything we can to make sure people find the best prices easily,’ the CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said.
The CMA is calling on the Government to change retail pricing law (Picture: Getty Images)
‘We’ve found that not all retailers are displaying prices as clearly as they should, which could be hampering people’s ability to compare product prices.’
One way retailers are leaving shoppers confused is with their ‘inconsistent’ unit prices, such as the price of a product per 100g or 100ml.
As Brits increasingly store hop, clip coupons and reach for their loyalty cards, unit prices especially need to be the same across every supermarket shelf, the CMA said.
The authority is ‘concerned’ with how some retailers use different measurements for similar products. Think one box of tea bags being priced per 100g and another unit proved per individual tea bag.
Some products have the wrong unit price labelled – or don’t have it labelled at all.
Examples include a 250ml bottle of handwash that was sold for £1.19 but the unit was priced at £476.00 per 100ml.
Even if it is properly unit priced, the CMA found it’s sometimes ‘difficult to read’, with tiny printed text or promotional stickers and store fittings blocking it.
Not every supermarket labels the unit price in the same way, the CMA found (Picture: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)
If the product’s unit pricing is blocked off by a promotional sticker, there’s a good chance the promotion won’t even say what the new unit price is, the CMA found.
One reason for the bewilderment facing shoppers is the law itself around unit prices, the Price Marking Order 2004.
But the rules allow ‘unhelpful inconsistencies in retailers’ practices and leave too much scope for interpretation’, the CMA said.
Consumer watchdog Which? pointed out last week that times have changed since the law hit the books and the law is shot with loopholes.
Among them, Which? says, is how smaller shops – including convenience stores owned by national chains – are exempt or how the guidelines for how unit prices should be displayed for promotions, both in-store or online, are unclear.
‘The law itself needs to be tightened here,’ Cartell said, ‘so we are also calling on the Government to bring in reforms.’
As much as food and drink price tags are at historically high levels, the CMA adds it has found no evidence so far that weak supermarket rivalry is fuelling this.
But the CMA stressed that strong competition between shops is only paying off for some shoppers, such as those with large stores nearby or who shop online.
People who rely on ‘higher-priced convenience stores’ are seeing their pound coins not stretch as far, the regulator said.
Which? has previously accused Tesco of not including the unit prices for Clubcard offers (Picture: Getty Images)
Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which?, said her team have ‘repeatedly exposed inconsistent and confusing supermarket pricing’.
‘The supermarkets must finally do the right thing by their customers and urgently act on the areas highlighted by the regulator,’ she said.
‘This includes the need to put unit pricing on promotions, such as on loyalty card offers and multi-buys, and make unit pricing clearer and more consistent.’
One example of this, Which? said earlier this year, was how Tesco doesn’t always have unit prices printed on Clubcard offers. This means shoppers can’t compare grocery prices as easily.
Not all smaller supermarkets stock budget lines too, Davies added, meaning further woes for those who rely on smaller shops for weekly grocery runs.
‘Government must act swiftly on its promise to update pricing rules and close the loopholes that are allowing supermarkets to unnecessarily confuse shoppers, and the regulator must be ready to take enforcement action if the supermarkets don’t act to quickly improve their pricing practice,’ she said.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said ministers are committing to consult on the Price Marking Order.
‘The cost of the weekly shop is a worry for millions of people,’ he said.
‘It’s reassuring that competition between supermarkets is working but the CMA has my backing to look further into price rises for 10 everyday essentials.
‘It remains the case that the best way to help ease the pressure on families is to get inflation right down.’
Food inflation has gradually gone down but remains stubbornly high at 17.3% in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday.
The figure peaked in March at an eye-watering 19.2% – the highest annual rate for over 45 years. Some goods have more than doubled in price in the last two years.
Inflation has burrowed deep into Britain’s economy, with consumer prices rising by 7.9% in June, the slowest pace in more than a year.
The falling food inflation rate was one reason behind the slowdown, which was slightly greater than economists expected.
The inflation rate falling doesn’t mean prices will fall with it – they just won’t go up as quickly, experts told Metro.co.uk.
Core inflation, a good indication of just how stubborn inflation is overall as it excludes volatile food and energy prices, stood at 6.9%, down from 7.1%.
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With so many people struggling to feed their families, it’s vital that we do everything we can.;
