Retailers should stick to clear start dates for price lock campaigns and not rotate the products involved to avoid confusing consumers, a law firm has warned.
The comments came after it emerged Morrisons had raised the price of some products that were included in an eight-week price lock commitment announced on 20 March, less than eight weeks on from that date.
Morrisons said in its 20 March announcement that 460 price cuts had been added to over 600 already low prices and “the 1,000 products will be held at today’s price for at least eight weeks”.
Five products included at the time have since risen in price. A 2.5kg pack of baking potatoes was this week £1.80, up from £1.59, while a four-pack of baking potatoes had risen from 62p to 70p. Carrots (500g) had risen from 30p to 35p, celery (80g) from 57p to 60p, and an iceberg lettuce from 65p to 70p.
Morrisons said its eight-week commitment on 20 March did not necessarily apply to all the products from that date.
“For each phase of the campaign we have had over 1,000 prices locked and lowered for at least eight weeks,” said a Morrisons spokeswoman. “In between that we have also been lowering additional products so the [five] items were actually lowered five weeks earlier than 20 March – they were then held at their low price for eight weeks.”
The supermarket announced an earlier round of the campaign on 23 January, when it also said 1,000 products would be price locked for eight weeks.
Charlotte Rees-John, head of consumer goods and services at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: “Consumers would likely assume that a price freeze applies to the products listed for the stated period. Therefore, retailers should adhere to the specific date given for the start of the freeze and not change the products covered or increase their prices during that period.”
Morrisons’ spokeswoman added: “Our Prices Locked Low campaign aims to reassure customers that we will have over 1,000 prices locked low for at least eight weeks. Since 20 March, there have been weeks when we have in fact had considerably more than 1,000 prices locked low as some products were reduced in price before the latest phase of the activity launched.”
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and M&S have also been running price lock campaigns in cycles during the cost of living crisis.
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