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(Archive photo)
photo: Supplies/ Food
New Zealanders could be losing tens of millions of dollars every year due to supermarket pricing errors, the Commerce Commission says.
Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden said the committee still hears too many examples of misleading or inaccurate pricing.
He called on the major supermarkets to improve and publish their refund policies, saying it would incentivise them to be more accurate in their pricing.
Customers should trust that the advertised price is what they are willing to pay, he said.
“New Zealand consumers expect and deserve better. The ongoing pricing errors that occur in the major supermarkets are simply unacceptable and I do not believe the major supermarkets are doing enough to address these issues and plan for the future.”
Mr van Heerden said the responsibility for fixing these issues lay squarely with senior management at Foodstuffs and Woolworths NZ.
The committee had sought commitments from the chief executives of the three largest supermarkets – Woolworths, Pak’n Save and New World.
“The grocery industry is a $25 billion per year business, so even if errors only account for a small percentage of sales, the total amount of excess charges New Zealanders pay at checkouts will amount to tens of millions of dollars each year, which is unacceptable.”
He also said the supermarkets’ process for recording customer complaints was inadequate and a lack of clarity and reporting meant the supermarkets were unable to identify potential compliance issues.
“Complaint data is a useful source of information that can help us identify trends and issues so they can be corrected.”
Mr van Heerden said while customers played an important role in raising pricing issues with supermarkets, the refund policies of the three major supermarkets were either missing, unclearly advertised or offered inadequate concessions.
The committee has made the following requirements for major supermarkets:
- Review and revise refund policies to demonstrate a commitment to pricing integrity – for example, offering full refunds on mispriced items
- Highlight your refund policy
- Ensure that a comprehensive pricing complaints policy and process is in place and that employees are adequately trained on these issues
Mr van Heerden said those expectations were unrelated to the ongoing investigation under the Fair Trading Act.
While the three supermarkets responded positively to the committee’s expectations, Van Heerden said it would be “watchful to see whether they deliver on their promises”.
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