Sign the petition for fair, transparent grocery pricing

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Sign the petition for fair, transparent grocery pricing

To the Federal Government:

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

Sign the petition now:

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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.

That’s why we’re calling on the government to require supermarkets to provide fair, transparent pricing information in-store and online, including:

Banning unfair pricing practices, such as ‘member-only’ discounts
Introducing rules about discounts or other promotions, and how these should be presented, to simplify price tags and remove ambiguous terms
Enforcing and expanding the Grocery Unit Pricing Code to make unit pricing easier to use and more effective
Requiring supermarkets to publish historical grocery pricing information so people can see how much a product has increased in price over time and to put ‘Was/Now’ pricing into context
Reforming competition and consumer laws to make sure the ACCC has the powers it needs to hold supermarkets to account

Together, we can hold supermarkets to account, but it’s going to take thousands of us working together to get these changes through. Will you call on the 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.

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.

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 require supermarkets to provide fair, transparent pricing information in-store and online, including:

Banning unfair pricing practices, such as ‘member-only’ discounts
Introducing rules about discounts or other promotions, and how these should be presented, to simplify price tags and remove ambiguous terms
Enforcing and expanding the Grocery Unit Pricing Code to make unit pricing easier to use and more effective
Requiring supermarkets to publish historical grocery pricing information so people can see how much a product has increased in price over time and to put ‘Was/Now’ pricing into context
Reforming competition and consumer laws to make sure the ACCC has the powers it needs to hold supermarkets to account mandatory information standard to simplify price tags and remove ambiguous terms that may mislead people about discounts

What happens next ?

With a number of inquiries on supermarket pricing underway by the Senate and the ACCC, this is a key opportunity to shine the light on dodgy pricing tactics and win important changes like a new mandatory information standard to prevent dodgy and confusing specials. But to get these changes over the line, we need to show the government that thousands of people support these changes are 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.