Supermarket Price Increases

fergie_

All the supermarkets are very keen to tell consumers about price cuts on their labelling, but should they be made to also tell us each time a product is increased in price?

Apologies if this is the wrong section.

sammyjammy

In a word, no, I'm not sure how you see that working, some prices will change on an almost daily basis.  I have no interest in whether the cost of something has gone up or down just whether its something I want/need to buy at that price or not.

Farway

I can't see how this could work without a lot of bureaucracy, which would add to the cost.

How would this increase be notified? Shelf edge, full page advert in The TImes, notice at the door with list of items increased?

pumpkin89

I don't think every price increase should be tagged, but I do think there should be more transparency in advertising claims.

For instance, if a supermarket releases a TV advert saying they've cut 400 prices, they should have to say that in the same period of time they've increased X prices.

fergie_

Farway said:

I can't see how this could work without a lot of bureaucracy, which would add to the cost.

How would this increase be notified? Shelf edge, full page advert in The TImes, notice at the door with list of items increased?

The funny thing is that almost every supermarket announces with fanfare whenever a price is 'cut' or an offer is on.

Yes, it would simply be on the shelf edge / displayed price.

Its much like electronics shops with a sale have to state what the previous price was and for how long.

Grumpy_chap

I don't know, but I do know I was taken aback when my Clubcard price lunch rose to £3.60 silently during the week 😔

jon81uk

fergie_ said:

Its much like electronics shops with a sale have to state what the previous price was and for how long.

They don't.
The guidance on sale pricing changed because too many places were having a small number of stores having a product hidden away at a very high price for the 28 days so they could then claim its discounted at the whole chain because the old guidance was specific on what needed to be done. Now the guidance is more vague but covers a lot of scenarios. 
No more "28 day" rule – pricing and promotions under the spotlight | marketinglaw (osborneclarke.com)
Guidance for Traders on Pricing Practices (businesscompanion.info)

Murphybear

Grumpy_chap said:

I don't know, but I do know I was taken aback when my Clubcard price lunch rose to £3.60 silently during the week 😔

I used to buy a Tesco sandwich in the form of a big puffed up triangle.  I monitored the calorific value carefully as I was trying to lose weight.  One day I noticed the calorific value had gone up with no warning.  I then checked the price and found that had gone up 

So double whammy, costs more and you get less  grr grr grr

MrsStepford

The Aldi and/or Lidl price match promises basically mean that the prices are fixed. 

Murphybear

Murphybear said:

Grumpy_chap said:

I don't know, but I do know I was taken aback when my Clubcard price lunch rose to £3.60 silently during the week 😔

I used to buy a Tesco sandwich in the form of a big puffed up triangle.  I monitored the calorific value carefully as I was trying to lose weight.  One day I noticed the calorific value had gone up with no warning.  I then checked the price and found that had gone up 

So double whammy, costs more and you get less  grr grr grr

Whoops I meant the calorific value had gone down not up