Asda to change the way it offers deals after being rapped over misleading promotions

ASDA will now change its price promotions after being publicly shamed by competition watchdogs for misleading customers.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will force Asda to end rip-off deals across its stores following a super-complaint by the consumer group Which?.

In its report today, the CMA criticised the supermarket chain over numerous pricing issues.

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The use of the was/now price was rarely a genuine offer, as goods were often left at the lower price for a longer period of time.

For example, in 2014 Asda sold Andrex toilet rolls for 49 days at £2.24 and then on offer for 81 days at an offer of “was 2.24, now £2”.

Multi-buy offers had the same effect, as prices of individual items were often hiked before being included in this deal.

In 2013, Asda increased the price of Uncle Ben’s rice from £1 to £1.58 and included it in a two for £3 multi-buy. When the offer ended, the price dropped back down to £1.

Consumers were also misled by larger pack better value offers, when the unit price of the bigger pack is actually more expensive.

Asda again used Andrex rolls to trick customers and sold 12 rolls for more per item than the four-pack. This was marked as “great value”.

According to the Money Advice Service, these deals are “seducing shoppers into spending an extra £1,000 per year".

On average, shoppers spent an extra £11.14 a week than they intended and 76 per cent of consumers admitted to regularly over-spending on their weekly grocery shop.

After presenting the findings, CMA Executive Director Michael Grenfell said: “The CMA’s examination of the market, following the super-complaint, found that supermarkets generally take compliance seriously, but there were some promotional practices that could have mislead shoppers.”

Traditionally, Asda has been rated the cheapest of the major grocers with the lowest-priced rating by the Grocer magazine for 18 years in a row across a basket of 33 products.

However, this may have been achieved at the consumer’s expense.

The CMA has now secured a written commitment from Asda that it will change its pricing, while the other major supermarkets have met its standards voluntarily.

An Asda spokesperson told the BBC: “All supermarkets were asked to review their pricing practices and make any necessary changes.

"The CMA has asked for a commitment from Asda on our promotional pricing rules and we were happy to provide this.

“It’s important that customers know that the CMA did not make any findings against Asda, and it hasn’t questioned our commitment to every day low prices.”

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