SHOPPERS are being warned over “rip-off” deals found at retailers like Boots and Superdrug following an investigation by Which?.
The consumer group found “concerning” loyalty scheme pricing practices at a number of high street chains and supermarkets.
This includes a number of products being listed at member-only promotional prices for more than half of the year, according to the group’s investigation.
Which? said it had analysed the pricing history of almost 12,000 products at health and beauty retailers and supermarkets over the past year to uncover how genuine the loyalty savings were.
As part of this, it found one in six (16%) Superdrug products on a loyalty offer had been at the non-member price for less than half the time.
At Boots, it was one in 10, and for supermarkets, it was 10% at Tesco, 5% at Sainsbury’s and 3% at Co-op.
Which? said it also identified cases where prices were raised to a higher price for a relatively brief period before going on “offer”.
It said the examples it found are “seemingly an outright rip-off”.
The group said that at Boots an Oral-B iO7 electric toothbrush in blue was at a non-member price of £400, while the members’ price was £150.
This product had only been £400 for 13 days beforehand, prior to which it was £150 for everyone, according to Which?.
At Tesco, Stella Artois Premium Lager Beer Cans (18 cans x 440ml) were at a non-member price of £16.99, but members paid £13.
These beers had only been £16.99 for seven days before the loyalty promotion started and before that, they were £15.99 all the way back to November.
At Sainsbury’s, Ariel All-in-1 Pods Washing Liquid Capsules 39 Washes were £10.50 for non-members but £9.50 for members.
They had only been £10.50 for 28 days.
Before that, they were £10 for everyone and just over two months earlier than the snapshot day they were £9.50 for everyone.
The group said it believes the findings show why the guidance on how consumer law applies to pricing promotions needs to be updated to clarify how it applies to loyalty pricing.
Ele Clark, Which? retail editor, said: “Loyalty cards are increasingly big business, with the explosion in two-tier pricing meaning shoppers will often pay a lot more if they aren’t a member of the retailer’s scheme.
“But while the discounts can look impressive, many shoppers are growing suspicious of non-member prices that seem high.
“We looked at the pricing history of thousands of products and found that, while the majority of discounts were not misleading, there were some questionable non-member prices and some examples that looked like an outright rip-off.
“Meanwhile some products were always, or almost always, on loyalty promotion, making it difficult to spot a genuine deal.”
It comes as the UK competition watchdog is currently analysing whether displayed savings are genuine.
Last month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was looking into whether non-member, or regular, prices may have been artificially inflated by supermarkets to make their loyalty prices appear more attractive, but its initial findings indicated retailers are unlikely to be misleading shoppers.
It said: “Our analysis – involving tens of thousands of loyalty price promotions – is ongoing, but the results to date suggest we are unlikely to identify widespread evidence of loyalty promotions that mislead shoppers in this way.”
In recent years there has been a sharp rise in loyalty programmes, whereby customers can sign up to access lower prices, personalised rewards and offers, and loyalty points, across high street retailers.
MOST UK supermarkets have loyalty schemes so customers can build up points and save money while they shop.
Here we round up what saving programmes you’ll find at the big brands.
Commenting on the Which findings, a Boots spokesperson said: “We have always been committed to offering customers great value, helping them save money across their health and beauty needs.
“Price Advantage allows our loyal Boots Advantage Card customers to make genuine savings on over 8,000 products.”
A spokesperson for Co-op said: “We know our Member prices provide true value for our Members. No base prices have increased to accommodate Co-op member pricing and, in fact, many of the ‘all-customer’ prices were decreased to ensure Co-op was competitive on key lines for all shoppers, whether they are a member or not.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “More people are choosing to shop at Sainsbury’s and we know our customers are savvy shoppers, who understand that factors like inflation, products falling out of season or promotions can affect our prices.
“That doesn’t stop us following pricing guidance for the industry and offering great value on the products our customers buy most – whether that’s with our Low Everyday Prices, Aldi Price Match or Nectar Prices.”
A Superdrug spokesperson said: “Our products are regularly on a mixture of member’s only prices, multibuy promos, and price promotions open to all, to ensure all our customers can make savings on their favourite products throughout the year.”
A spokesperson for Tesco said: “Clubcard unlocks the best value at Tesco, with thousands of genuine savings on offer with Clubcard Prices each week.
“All our Clubcard Prices promotions follow strict rules, including considering how they compare against prices in the market, to ensure they represent genuine value and savings, and these rules have been endorsed by our Trading Standards Primary Authority.”
SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain…
Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with.
Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks.
Sales are when you can pick up a real steal.
Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on.
Sign up to mailing lists and you’ll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use vouchercodes.co.uk and myvouchercodes.co.uk are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer.
Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. Trolley.co.uk app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping.
Bargain hunters can also use B&M’s scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out.
And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you’ll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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