Sign the petition for fair, transparent grocery pricing

Form Section Structure

Sign the petition for fair, transparent grocery pricing

To the next Federal Government:

I call on you to force supermarkets to make grocery pricing fair and transparent.

Sign the petition now:

First name

Last name

Email address

Postcode

Send me updates on this issue and others from CHOICE

Campaign Section Structure

Let’s stop dodgy supermarket specials

Down Down, Low Price, Everyday Low Price, While Stocks Last, Dropped and Locked, Special… but is it actually a discount?

Major supermarkets often point to their specials and promotions to show how they’re helping people save during the cost of living crisis, but what are these 'specials' really costing you?

It should be easy to work out which products are the best value at the supermarket, but major supermarkets use a range of pricing tactics that could make you think products are better value than they are, including price tags that look like they’re offering a discount when the product isn’t actually discounted. Those tags grab our attention, but CHOICE has found a number of examples that are confusing or downright dodgy. In fact, a recent survey of 11,000 CHOICE supporters found that 4 in 5 respondents think some Coles and Woolworths ‘specials’ make it hard to tell if you’re getting a genuine discount or value for money.

CHOICE research shows that people believe buying products on special is the best way to get value for money, above other factors like comparing unit prices or buying supermarket-owned brands. So it’s crucial that people can rely on the claims supermarkets make.

We’ve come a long way since we first awarded Coles and Woolworths a Shonky in 2023 for profiting in a cost of living crisis. The ACCC has taken Coles and Woolworths to court for potentially making misleading and false representations to consumers about some product prices and handed down the final report of the Supermarket Inquiry. The final report made a number of recommendations to make supermarket pricing fair and transparent including:

Requiring supermarkets to publish pricing information
Introducing minimum information requirements for discount price promotions
Strengthening the Unit Pricing Code
Introducing shrinkflation notices
Strengthening complaints handling mechanisms in remote locations

We can get these key reforms over the line, but it’s going to take thousands of us working together to get these changes through. Will you call on the next government to make fair, transparent grocery pricing the law? Sign the petition now.

Together, we can stop dodgy specials

Supermarket 'Special' Hall of Shame

Browse our Supermarket ‘Special’ Hall of Shame and share any dodgy specials you've across with us at [email protected]

Are prices really ‘dropped’ or ‘down down’?
The ACCC is taking Coles and Woolworths to court for allegedly misleading pricing claims on hundreds of products. It alleges that both supermarkets advertised discounted prices that were actually the same, or higher, than the previous regular prices for those items. Check out the article to learn more.

Shrinkflation
We found 10 grocery products that have been reduced in size, but stayed the same or increased in price. Check out the article for the full list of shrinking products. The Government has now committed to introducing Shrinkflation notices that will tell you when one of your food and grocery items has been affected.

Prices locked! But not that locked.
Coles claimed the prices of 20 products were ‘locked’, but following a CHOICE complaint to the regulator, Coles was caught red handed raising the prices before they claimed they would. Coles apologised and refunded customers.

A blast from the past
Coles and Woolworths often advertise products as ‘Down Down’ or ‘Price dropped’, but the ‘was’ price can be years ago – including the examples below showing a ‘was’ price in 2017 for Coles and 2020 for Woolworths. Because supermarkets don’t publish historical pricing information, it’s impossible for people to know if the price was actually cheaper a week ago.

Look over here (but not too closely)!
Supermarkets use price tags designed to look like specials by using the same design and colours, but the products don’t appear to be discounted at all.

Discount! Just trust us.
Supermarkets omit important contextual information like the previous price of the product and the amount of the discount, making it hard to know if a discount is genuine and how much a product is discounted by.

Price per unit, if it makes sense.
Obscured, inconsistent, unclear or too small. There are so many ways unit pricing is failing consumers when we know it is such an important tool to help us find the best value for money when we shop. The Government has consulted on strengthening the Unit Pricing Code and CHOICE made a submission. Watch this space to see what comes next.

Special! Just don't look under the tag.
There's nothing special about this special. We've spotted a number of examples of special tags slapped over the original price where it seems the supermarket forgot to actually discount the product... Oops!

Shonky prices

CHOICE awarded Coles and Woolworths a Shonky Award in 2023 for cashing in during a cost of living crisis.

Learn more

What’s the problem with supermarket pricing?

CHOICE regularly sees confusing price tags by major supermarkets, including specials that aren’t specials, ambiguous phrases, and missing contextual information. These practices make it hard for people to know if they’re getting a genuine discount or value for money. Because supermarkets don’t publish historical pricing information, it’s impossible for people to verify many of these claims. Constantly raising prices and cycling products through various promotions can also make it hard for people to keep track of price rises and know if an offer is good value or not.

What’s the solution?

It should be easy to scan supermarket shelves or browse groceries online and pick the best value products. Dodgy and confusing specials make that hard. That’s why CHOICE is calling on the government to make good on their commitment to implement the ACCC Supermarket’s Inquiry final report that included recommendations that will:

Require supermarkets to publish pricing information
Introduce minimum information requirements for discount price promotions
Strengthen the Unit Pricing Code
Introduce shrinkflation notices
Strengthen complaints handling mechanisms in remote locations

What happens next ?

We’ve come a long way since we first awarded Coles and Woolworths a Shonky back in 2023 for profiting in a cost of living crisis. But there’s still work to do to push key reforms and recommendations over the line and ensure we win important changes like stronger unit pricing rules, more transparent and fairer prices. To get these changes over the line, we need to show the government that thousands of people support these changes and expect the government to act. Sign the petition to join the campaign, and stay tuned for more ways you can take action for fair, transparent grocery prices.