Shoppers have been warned about “murky and confusing” loyalty discounts after researchers found some deals may not be as good as they appear.
Consumer group Which analysed the pricing history of more than 12,000 products at health and beauty retailers and supermarkets to discover how genuine the discounts were.
The research found “dubious discounts” and some items that were always on offer, suggesting they do not always provide the value for money shoppers might expect.
Which also found examples where prices were raised for a brief period before going on “offer”, while in some cases non-member prices were raised on the same day the loyalty promotion began.
The consumer group said the finding showed why guidance on how consumer laws apply to pricing promotions needs to be updated to clarify how it applies to loyalty pricing.
Ele Clark, Which retail editor, said:
Loyalty cards are increasingly big business, with the explosion in two-tier pricing meaning shoppers will often pay a lot more if they aren’t a member of the retailer’s scheme. But while the discounts can look impressive, many shoppers are growing suspicious of non-member prices that seem high.
We looked at the pricing history of thousands of products and found that, while the majority of discounts were not misleading, there were some questionable non-member prices and some examples that looked like an outright rip-off. Meanwhile some products were always, or almost always, on loyalty promotion, making it difficult to spot a genuine deal.
Guidance on pricing laws needs to be updated to include loyalty pricing, to help regulators crack down if businesses break the rules. The CMA should continue to monitor loyalty pricing practices across key consumer sectors and be ready to use its new powers to take action against retailers that don’t comply.