Supermarkets to offer clearer pricing information for online shoppers
Asda, Sainsbury, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado have agreed to provide clearer information about their online pricing after the OFT received complaints from customers that the prices charged for groceries on delivery were different from those advertised on the websites.
The supermarkets (apart from Ocado) use guide prices on their websites to show the prices of goods in-store on the day the order is placed. In most cases (apart from Ocado) the actual prices customers will pay will be the in-store prices on the day when goods are assembled for delivery. In-store prices may change between dates of order and delivery.
The OFT believed that their websites did not make it sufficiently clear that the prices shown were guide prices and what relation they had to the actual prices that would be charged.
Asda, Sainsbury, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado have now agreed to provide greater transparency about their online shopping schemes, including:
[L]Upfront information about their guide price policies and how the online shopping process works[/L]
[L]Ensuring special offer prices quoted on-line are treated as firm prices for orders that are to be delivered in the offer period. The duration of offers will be made clear[/L]
[L]Easy access to the terms and conditions[/L]
The OFT recommends that customers doing their supermarket shopping online check prices at the point of delivery against guide prices quoted at the time of ordering. The supermarkets believe that customers are not contractually bound until delivery, and therefore are free to reject deliveries if for example they are not satisfied with the prices to be charged. Ocado does not contract with customers in the same way, generally the prices consumers see on the website will be the ones they pay, so although there isn’t a general right to reject goods delivered, consumers are given a cancellation right in respect of non-perishable items.
John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said: “We welcome the supermarkets’ improvements to the information available to customers buying groceries online. Customers have a right to clear and transparent information upfront when making their buying decisions.”
