Consumer New Zealand has received 160 complaints about supermarket pricing in the past two months, it says (file image). Photo: Unsplash
Consumer New Zealand says it is still receiving complaints from the public about supermarket pricing tactics.
In March, the consumer watchdog gave supermarkets the opportunity to correct their pricing and promotional practices after collecting 300 examples of what it called "dodgy specials".
That included misleading multi-buy deals, specials that were not specials, and a mismatch between a price on the shelf and at the checkout.
Its head of research and advocacy Gemma Rasmussen told RNZ very little had changed.
In the past two months, Consumer New Zealand had received 160 complaints, Rasmussen said.
"They are certainly making a lot of money but it seems to be that there's a real lack of innovation being put back into their pricing and it's really not acceptable for pricing to not be accurate.
"If we're not going to see any movement from the supermarkets, we will escalate this to Commerce Commission and pass it on to them for investigation. There is potentially breaches of the Fair Trading Act with misrepresentation of pricing."
Rasmussen said Consumer New Zealand was calling on Kiwis to keep their eyes peeled at the supermarket and help gather as much evidence as possible of issues with pricing.
"We have designed a new form to make it even easier to share examples of dodgy pricing. You can submit your examples on our website until 30 June. The more examples we have, the stronger our case will be."
Rasmussen said many of the complaints Consumer New Zealand received mentioned how awkward it felt to ask for a refund when the difference in price was relatively small.
"Requesting a refund when you've been overcharged, whether it's $2 or 20 cents might feel silly or more hassle than it's worth complaining about - but you're well within your rights to do so.
"We encourage all New Zealanders to hold their local supermarket to account, no matter how small the pricing mistake(s) may be."
Meanwhile, price comparison website PriceSpy released some hacks consumers should be aware of when shopping.
Manager Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett said retailers "constantly" ran promotions and sales to get shoppers in the door but PriceSpy's research showed the so-called deals were not always what they seemed.
Shoppers should stay alert to rollercoaster pricing, yo-yo pricing, gender-based pricing, bundle pricing and pressure pricing, Matinvesi-Bassett said.
Rollercoaster pricing was when the price of a product gradually grew before a sudden drop. The price was then advertised as a discount based on the previous highest price.
"For example, claiming a discount of 50 percent compared to the previous day's price, but - if compared to the price 30 days ago - it may only be a 20 percent discount. Or, it may even be more expensive," Matinvesi-Bassett said.
"Sometimes referred to as a 'fake deal', rollercoaster pricing is especially prominent around big shopping periods like Black Friday, the Cyber Weekend and Christmas."
Yo-yo pricing was when prices went up and down a lot - sometimes as often as every few days.
"Prices are lowered for a short period of time in order to boost sales, before they're suddenly increased again," Matinvesi-Bassett said.
"Retailers might brand these as 'flash sales' or 'one day only' offers."
Matinvesi-Bassett suggested keeping an eye on the item you wanted to purchase if such sales occurred as it was likely to lower again - and it could then be purchased at a price the consumer was happy paying.
Gender-based pricing was when items were priced differently if considered a 'female' product or 'male' product.
"Despite how they're marketed or branded, to help save money, given products are often extremely similar, shoppers may benefit from being open-minded about buying products marketed to different genders," Matinvesi-Bassett said.
"Compare men's, women's and also unisex versions to see how different they really are, and then which is cheapest."
Bundle pricing was when an item was offered free or half price when purchasing a certain product.
Matinvesi-Bassett advised people not to get "blindsided" with the idea of something free or cheap - the consumer might not even need it or could be purchased elsewhere cheaper.
Finally, pressure pricing was when phrases such as 'only one left' or 'last chance' were used - a common tactic in online shopping.
Matinvesi-Bassett said the consumer should not panic.
"Look at the availability of the item in other stores to understand if there's any real urgency to buy it now. Whilst one retailer may be low on stock, others may have plenty."
Today, Countdown committed to taking 20 percent off its Odd Bunch range of packaged fruit and vegetables.
Countdown's commercial director for fresh, Pieter de Wet, told Checkpoint there was no end date on the odd-shaped produce deal and that the 20 percent different in price was in comparison to a normal bag of equivalent weight.
"That will be our standard policy going forward," he said.
"I think it's also important to just mention our growers, which we've got over 100 of them that we work very closely with. It's not only a great outcome for the consumer, it's also a great outcome for growers, because any crop, any natural product that you deal with, they will be a part of the crop that's not absolutely perfect.
"And what it does is it gives them the opportunity to have a market for those products to get a return on it. And it really helps contribute to bringing food waste down across the value chain."
