Consumer group CHOICE has welcomed the Government’s consultation paper on new rules for supermarkets to improve price transparency, price displays and loyalty program disclosure.
Quotes attributable to Bea Sherwood, Senior Campaigns and Policy Advisor at CHOICE:
“Today’s announcement from the Government is a welcome step at a time when 86% of Australians are concerned about the expense of food and groceries. To make matters worse, supermarkets have been using confusing and potentially misleading pricing and promotional practices that make it difficult for consumers to know whether they’re getting a genuine discount. CHOICE research from 2024 revealed 1 in 4 people found it difficult to identify if certain supermarket labels represented a true discount or not.”
“In order to make informed decisions and get the best value, consumers need to be able to access clear, reliable information. The Government’s proposals to improve transparency and price displays will help consumers compare prices across supermarkets and better understand promotions and discounts.”
On publishing prices in stores
“People living in remote communities are often unable to work out how much products cost, or compare different products by price, simply because there aren’t prices on the shelves. Requiring all supermarkets, including remote stores, to publish prices in-store will be a significant improvement for consumers in these areas.”
On publishing prices online
“While Coles, Woolworths and Aldi now publish prices online, requiring all large supermarkets to publish prices online would ensure this information remains available and that third party price comparison websites can scrape this data – making price comparison information more accessible to consumers. This would enable shoppers to check prices in advance, or while they are walking down the supermarket aisle, to ensure they’re getting the best value.”
On establishing information requirements for price displays
“Supermarkets use many confusing pricing practices to suggest that products are discounted, using terms like ‘down down’, ‘price dropped’ and ‘super savers’, along with referencing previous prices without context. New requirements for price displays will give consumers more of the information they need to verify promotional claims at the time of purchase.”
