Shoppers may be losing tens of millions of dollars each year due to pricing errors in supermarkets, the Commerce Commission says.
Grocery commissioner Pierre van Heerden stated that they continue to receive numerous reports of misleading or inaccurate pricing practices across major supermarket chains. He also emphasised that the ongoing pricing errors are unacceptable and that consumers deserve better.
“Kiwi consumers expect and deserve better. The continuing level of pricing errors happening across the major supermarkets is simply unacceptable, and I don’t believe the major supermarkets are doing enough to fix these problems and get it right for the future.”
Van Heerden stated that the senior management of both Foodstuffs and Woolworths New Zealand bears full responsibility for addressing the issues. The commission requested a commitment from the chief executives of the three leading supermarkets: Woolworths, Pak ‘N Save, and New World.
Van Heerden has also announced plans to implement a mandatory disclosure standard that will require major supermarkets to routinely share information regarding customer complaints, particularly those related to pricing and promotions. This initiative aims to enhance transparency, enabling consumers to make more informed decisions and increasing their confidence that their concerns will be addressed effectively.
“Consumers should be able to trust that the price advertised is what they will pay,” he said. “The groceries sector is a $25 billion a year business, so even if errors only make up a very small percentage of sales, the total overcharge paid by Kiwis at the checkout would run to tens of millions of dollars every year, and this is unacceptable.”
The grocery commissioner also highlighted the importance of recording customer complaints in supermarkets, as this can help identify potential compliance issues within their businesses.
“Complaint data is a helpful source of information to identify trends and issues so they can be remedied.”
The commission is expecting the leading supermarkets to:
- Review and amend refund policies to ensure they demonstrate a commitment by the supermarkets to pricing integrity and motivate customers to bring any pricing integrity issues to their attention. For instance, offering a full refund of the purchase price of mispriced goods.
- Prominently promote their refund policies—in-store, online, and through direct mail communications.
- Ensure there are comprehensive policies, systems, and processes to record and categorise all complaints about pricing and promotional issues, and appropriately train staff in these policies, systems, and processes.
Van Heerden states that the above expectations placed on supermarkets are proactive measures to address potential compliance issues in the future and that these expectations are separate from the current investigations conducted under the Fair Trading Act.