Where it says “price highlight” there should also be a price highlight. However, this was not the case with Aldi Süd‘s advertising discounts.
The discounter Aldi Süd will have to label special offers differently in the future than before. The amount of discounts must refer to the lowest price in the last 30 days, not the last sales price. This was decided by the Düsseldorf Regional Court, based on a recently published ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
“Consumers are most easily confused when it comes to price advertising. That’s why it has to be clear and unambiguous,” said the presiding judge of the 8th Chamber for Commercial Matters, Wilko Seifert. Aldi thus loses the legal dispute against the Baden-Württemberg consumer advice center, which had sued the discounter. In the event of a repeat offense, there is a risk of a fine of up to 250,000 euros. The verdict is not yet final.
The specific case involved, among other things, price advertising for bananas that were offered by Aldi Süd for 1.29 per kilo. A discount of 23 percent was stated. The trading company had stated the lowest price of the last 30 days – also 1.29 euros – in the small print of its advertising. However, the amount of the discount was based on the last sales price of 1.69 euros.
The Baden-Württemberg consumer advice center saw this as inadmissible price swinging. Consumers would be misled because the bananas cost exactly that much three weeks earlier. There was also criticism of a discount on pineapples, which the discounter had labeled as a “price highlight”, even though the fruit had been sold at a lower price a few weeks earlier.
The proceedings before the regional court were interrupted in May 2023. The judges referred the case to the ECJ and asked to clarify the legal interpretation. This largely followed the arguments of consumer advocates. According to the ruling (C-330/23), anyone who advertises with discounts must calculate them based on the lowest price within a period of at least 30 days.
Simply naming this price is not enough. This would prevent retailers from misleading consumers by increasing the price before announcing a price reduction “and thereby announcing false price reductions”.
