Tesco Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar, Morrisons More and Lidl Plus are among the major membership schemes that have come under scrutiny
Supermarket giants like Tesco, Mossisons and Sainsbury’s are unlikely to be misleading shoppers over loyalty pricing, but questions remain over whether displayed savings are genuine, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has suggested.
The CMA is in the process of looking through thousands of price promotions tied to loyalty programmes that promise shoppers lower prices, personalised deals, and points for every shop. The big players include Tesco Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar, Morrisons More, and Lidl Plus.
The 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. It said it was still undertaking analysis, but that “the results to date suggest we are unlikely to identify widespread evidence of loyalty promotions that mislead shoppers in this way”.
It suggests major supermarkets could avoid the wrath of the regulator when it publishes a full report of its findings in November. Nevertheless, the CMA said it was looking deeper into the issue of retailers alternating between loyalty prices and “was” and “now” discounts.
The practice raises questions as to what the regular price is for a product and therefore whether shoppers are genuinely making the savings advertised to them, the regulator said. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, welcomed the CMA’s preliminary findings, which indicate an absence of “widespread evidence of misleading loyalty promotions”.
“Whether it’s everyday value, or loyalty schemes discounts, retailers know they have to demonstrate clear value to attract and retain customers,” she further commented.
