Retailer’s ‘baby’ charge backtrack

Two tubes of moisturiser contained the same amount of exactly the same product – but one cost $2 more than the other at The Warehouse.

The difference? One has the word ‘‘baby’’ on the packaging.

The Warehouse Group will change the pricing of one of its products after a Southland mother discovered it was charging different prices for two moisturisers that are exactly the same.

Ash Skevington discovered that the Aveeno Baby Dermexa Moisturising Cream had exactly the same ingredients as Aveeno Active Naturals Dermexa Moisturising Cream when her mum bought home what she thought was the wrong tube.

When the pair looked at the ingredients, they discovered they were exactly the same, but The Warehouse in Gore was selling the moisturiser with ‘‘baby’’ on the tube for $2 more at $22.

‘‘As a mother I always have used the baby product thinking the adult one might have been more harmful but it’s the same for adult and baby skin, which surprised me.

‘‘Maybe The Warehouse just thought they could cash in on mums. It’s quite predatory from their point of view, I think.’’

Skevington emailed the manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson Pacific, asking why New Zealand mums were being charged extra for the same product.

The company confirmed the moisturising cream in both tubes was the same product, just in different packaging.

‘‘The formulations are the same. Both adults and children with eczema prone skin can suffer from dry and very dry skin. We have found with previous lotions where we offered just one variant for all age groups that consumers found it hard to find the lotion. Adults tend to shop in the adult aisle and consumers looking for a suitable baby lotion tend to search in the baby aisle.

‘‘As a result, we are offering a baby variant which will be positioned in the baby aisle and an adult variant that will be positioned in the adult lotion aisle. This will assist consumers to easily find the moisturiser.’’

The company said it did not set retail prices.

‘‘Our goal is to provide quality products at reasonable prices, despite increases in the cost of raw materials, energy, manufacturing, and distribution. As a manufacturer, we cannot set retail prices, but do suggest that consumers do comparison shop to find the best prices in their area.’’

The Warehouse Group initially referred all questions about the price comparison back to the manufacturer, but then emailed Stuff to say it was changing the price.

‘‘The Warehouse uses manufacturer’s recommended retail price as a guide when setting prices.

‘‘We were unaware that the two products had the same formulation and now that Johnson and Johnson have told us, we are adjusting the price accordingly so that both products will retail for $20.

Skevington said she was pleased the retailer was changing the prices.

‘‘It just shows that pursuing something you believe in can really make a small difference. If we had left this stone unturned then consumers could have been none the wiser.

‘‘If you think you are too small to make a difference, you’ve never spent a night with a mosquito.’’

‘‘Maybe The Warehouse just thought they could cash in on mums.’’ Ash Skevington (pictured)