Eagle-eyed Woolies customers spotted an item with a discount ticket priced more than the usual shelf item. In this case it was a ‘clearance’ price for $11 when the normal shelf price was $10.
Woolies claims it was a case of an older ticket not being updated, and while I believe that may be possible, I’m not buying it. Supermarket tickets are checked almost every week, I don’t believe it slipped through.
But here’s another explanation. It’s a little-known supermarket pricing policy that supermarkets, big and small chains, will price items higher where they hold a monopoly, such as a regional town or an area without a competing supermarket.
However, weekly specials come from head office and cover all lines, regardless of local pricing, so it could have been a case a national price discount on a local price.
In the future it may even be more difficult to check. Most supermarkets are rolling out dynamic pricing, that is, small digital screens where the price will be changed at the touch of a button at head office.
Then any comparison will be impossible unless you are diligently checking price changes. All the better for the supermarkets to hide their pricing policies.
Do you think supermarkets should be more transparent about their prices?
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