Supermarket defends price comparisons

A major supermarket chain has denied a pricing programme it uses on more than 3600 products is misleading.

Labelling on Countdown’s everyday low price programme shows the current price and a higher price beneath, followed by the date of that higher price.

In some cases, one Stuff reader complained, the date is three or four years ago which she said seemed misleading because it was so dated.

But Countdown says the date was tied to whenever that product joined its longterm, low price Price Lockdown scheme.

‘‘When you see one of our red Price Lockdown tickets, we’re highlighting that we’ve locked down the shelf price and letting our customer know when we did this, and what the standard shelf price was before the product joined the programme,’’ Kiri Hanafin, the chain’s general manager of corporate affairs and sustainability, said.

Countdown’s everyday low priced products used red signage, while more temporary specials used yellow signage, she added.

Price discounting is a closely-watched area of the New Zealand supermarket scene, with retail experts often commenting that Kiwi shoppers have become extraordinarily specials-driven.

Countdown’s strategy to combat this has been to provide consistently low prices on key grocery items, to train shoppers out of their specials fixation.

Jessica Wilson, a researcher for Consumer New Zealand, said as long as the product’s last price was clearly dated and consumers knew what it meant, it was probably fine.

Her organisation’s bigger concern around supermarket pricing were specials that weren’t really specials at all, owing to their frequency.

‘‘The golden rule is that stores promoting specials must be offering a genuine saving,’’ Wilson said.

‘‘Our price surveys have found products can be discounted so often there are good grounds to question whether you’re getting a genuine bargain.

‘‘So you buy something or you make a purchase, throw something extra in your trolley because the special sign looks like a discount this particular time ... when in fact the item could be on special for weeks at a time and you’re not really getting a discount.

‘‘When the store is making it clear that this has been a long-term discount, then the risk of consumers getting the wrong idea is lessened.

‘‘The issue is whether consumers understand what the Lockdown programme is and how it works, and that may not be immediately clear at point of sale.’’

Another common issue for shoppers, Wilson said, was whether signage showed the per unit pricing. It was easier to compare prices if you had the price per 100g or 100ml.