Sainsbury’s and Tesco loyalty card prices not as good as they seem, says Which?

A leading consumer rights group says supermarket loyalty schemes may not be as good as they appear. 

Which? Says Sainsbury’s and Tesco are inflating the regular price advertised for a product so that the promotional prices offered to loyalty scheme members look like a better deal than they really are. 

But Sainsbury’s and Tesco say it’s not true. They are claiming all prices have gone up due to inflation. 

The consumer rights group said it had tracked pricing history in stores for six months to see whether the regular price advertised was really the standard price the items were sold at over a reasonable period. 

It found that around a third (29%) of the member-only promotions were at their so-called regular price for less than half of the six-month period.

But the supermarkets say the researchers failed to take inflation into account when analysing the prices, and said that they adhered to Trading Standards rules on promotions. 

Inflation has been at its highest for decades in recent months, with food prices hitting record levels.