- Which? investigation uncovers ‘concerning’ pricing structures at retailers
Leading high street retailers have been blasted for their ‘murky and confusing’ loyalty pricing practices, with some offering deals that are not as good as they appear.
During the cost of living crisis, supermarkets and other retailers have come under fire for introducing a two-tier pricing structure.
Customers without a loyalty card, or simply uncomfortable with the reams of data they hold on you, will likely spend more at the checkout.
Rip off: Which? investigation reveals ‘murky and confusing’ pricing practices by retailers
An investigation by consumer website Which? has discovered ‘concerning membership pricing practices’ at Boots, Superdrug and supermarkets.
Which? analysed the pricing history of almost 12,000 products at health and beauty retailers and supermarkets to investigate how genuine the loyalty savings are.
They found that some discounts and items were always on loyalty promotion deals, while also discovering examples of non-member prices ‘that are seemingly an outright rip-off’.
Which? researchers found Superdrug’s loyalty prices offer an average third off the higher non-member price.
The three biggest supermarkets all offered similar savings: 25 per cent at Morrisons, 24 per cent at Sainsbury’s and 23 per cent at Tesco. Co-op and Boots both offered 10 per cent.
While the discounts are enticing, Which? is questioning how genuine they are, with many non-member prices only introduced a few days before.
On a snapshot day, Which? researchers looked at how many times non-member prices on items with loyalty discounts had been in place during the previous six months.
They found that one in six Superdrug products had been their non-member price for less than half the time, while at Boots it was one in 10.
Tesco also had 10 per cent, followed by 5 per cent at Sainsbury’s and 3 per cent at Co-op.
Which? also found cases of prices being raised to a higher price for a relatively brief period before going on ‘offer’.
For example, Superdrug sold an Ultimate Day & Night Duo – Olay Regenerist & Retinol Bundle for £71.98 for non-members and £59.99 for members.
However, the product was only priced at £71.98 for 13 days, before which it was £35.98 for everyone.
At Boots, an Oral-B iO7 electric toothbrush was sold to non-members for £400 and to members for £150. The product was only priced at £400 for 13 days before which it was £150.
At Tesco, Ambre Solaire Ultra-hydrating Sun Cream Spray SPF30 200ml was £8 for non-members and £6 members. However, it had only been £8 for 14 days, before that it was £6.
Sainsbury’s sold Ariel All-in-1 pod capsules for £10.50 for non-members and £1 cheaper for members. However, they had only been £10.50 for 28 days, before which they were £10 for everyone. Two months earlier they were for £9.50 for everyone.
A previous investigation by Which? revealed that some loyalty prices at Sainsbury’s and Tesco were not as good as they seemed and sparked a CMA probe.
However, the regulator recently said that supermarket loyalty prices aren’t misleading shoppers.
Ele Clark, Which? retail editor said: ‘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.’