The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found some retailers showing “inaccurate prices” during its review of how grocers display their prices in-store.
The review looked at the price marking practices of 139 grocery stores in England and Wales to see whether pricing was “clear, accurate and matched the price people were charged at the till”.
Those included in the investigation included supermarket chains, symbol convenience stores (small, independent retailers that operate under a symbol brand name), variety stores and independent food stores.
The CMA carried out on-site checks and looked at a sample of products such as fresh produce, as well as items on promotion.
During inspections, it found examples where some retailers were displaying “inaccurate prices” or “failed to display prices at all” for certain products.
The CMA said those failing to provide “clear and accurate pricing information for products on sales” breached consumer law.
The findings were reinforced by similar checks by regional and local Trading Standards officials across England and Wales, as well as by the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland and Northern Ireland Trading Standards.
Most of the issues were found at independent food stores and symbol convenience stores, with the most common types of issues being missing prices, conflicting prices and prices not being displayed ”sufficiently close to products”.
Other issues that were highlighted included prices not being legible, selling prices being obscured and multi-buy promotion labels that did not specify the price of the items individually.
The CMA, in conjunction with Trading Standards, has published materials to help grocery retailers understand what they need to do to comply with the law.
CMA interim executive director for consumer protection and markets George Lusty said: “We know how frustrating it can be when you get to the till only to find the price doesn’t match what was advertised.
“While lots of grocery retailers – particularly supermarkets – are complying with pricing rules, this needs to consistently be the case across all types of stores.
“It’s important that shoppers can make well-informed choices based on accurate information, especially at a time when lots of people are looking to save money. That’s why we are reminding businesses of the importance of complying with consumer law.”
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