"Australia’s Supermarkets Under Fire: ACCC Takes Legal Action Against Woolworths and Coles for Misleading Pricing Practices"

“If such behavior by supermarkets is confirmed, I find it completely unacceptable. That is not in the spirit of Australia. Consumers don’t deserve to be treated like idiots,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on the matter.

Australia has one of the highest supermarkets in the world, with Woolworths and Coles controlling more than half of the market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has now filed legal action against the two supermarkets. According to commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the two supermarkets have spent years promoting their “Reduced Prices” and “Even Lower” promotions. Customers now understand them as permanent reductions in regular product prices. In many cases, however, the chains did not have to voluntarily increase the prices of popular products for a short period of time, before reducing them again to the same value or slightly higher. These were false concessions.

The watchdog’s investigation revealed that the Woolworths and Coles chains were misleading customers in around five hundred products, which sold tens of millions of units. They covered a wide range of products, from pet food to Australian favourites.

“Many customers rely on discounts, especially at this time when life’s emotions are rising. It is vital that Australian consumers can rely on the accuracy of pricing and rebate claims,” said Authority Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

The authority is seeking an Australian court to impose heavy fines on the chains and order them to increase food supply for charity projects.

The Australian government has reviewed existing food retail and consumer protection regulations after the discount scams came to light. The new version is supposed to introduce stricter rules for the behavior of supermarkets towards consumers and suppliers.

The Coles chain said it would defend itself against the allegations and that cost overruns had led to price rises. Woolsworths also want to review the allegations.

Czech buyers also solve the problem with discounts. In stores, many products are marked with different stickers that are supposed to announce different promotions, to the point where it is not completely clear what is the normal price of products in special store.

The law, which states that the discount should be given from the lowest price in the last 30 days, is circumvented by stores, for example, by offering goods at a higher price to those who no club cards or apps.