The UK’s supermarkets are to face an investigation from the regulator over claims of “confusing and misleading” pricing tactics and special offers.
Consumer body Which? has used its legal powers to make a “super-complaint” to the Competition and Markets Authority over “dodgy multi-buys and baffling sales offers” that “creates the illusion of savings that doesn’t exist.”
It also identified pack sizes that shrink while the price stays the same and seasonal offers where, for example, Easter or Christmas products are sold at a higher price months, only to appear “on sale” during the festive period.
It said consumers – who spend £115 billion on groceries annually – could be collectively losing out on hundreds of millions of pounds a year due to such practices and that it only took the step to contact the CMA after it repeatedly raised the issue with the industry during the last seven years, but nothing had changed.
Full Content: The Guardian
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Justice Department Moves to End NCAA Transfer Rule
May 30, 2024 by
CPI
Kenya’s Competition Authority Proposes Tougher Regulations on Big Tech
May 30, 2024 by
CPI
KKR Secures EU Antitrust Approval for $24 Billion Acquisition of Telecom Italia’s Fixed-Line Network
May 30, 2024 by
CPI
European Court Sides with Tech Giants in Italian Regulatory Dispute
May 30, 2024 by
CPI
US Steel and Nippon Steel Secure International Approvals for $14.9B Merger
May 30, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Merger Guidelines Retrospective
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
Mergers of Complements
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
Personality Traits, Private Equity, and Merger Analysis
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
The 2023 Merger Guidelines: Lessons in the Importance of Incipiency, Modern Economics, and Monopsony
May 21, 2024 by
CPI
The 2023 Merger Guidelines: Sharpening Merger Analysis
May 21, 2024 by
CPI