CMA Finds Price Marking Concerns in All Grocery Retailers Examined

The consumer watchdog has warned that some shops are failing to display prices as clearly as they should, which could prevent shoppers from being able to compare prices.

However, the CMA said that evidence suggests that historically high food price inflation has not been driven by weak retail competition.

The regulator added that rising costs have not been passed on in full to shoppers.

The CMA had previously accused supermarkets of increasing their margins on fuel, but it acknowledged that not all consumers are able to benefit from "strong" competition.

In particular, people who cannot travel to large stores or shop online may rely on higher-priced convenience stores.

The CMA has written to shops who are failing to make pricing clear, and has warned them to make necessary changes or risk facing enforcement action.

It has also asked the government to reform pricing legislation to help shoppers spot the best deals.

The pricing laws "leave too much scope for interpretation", the CMA said, and allow "unhelpful inconsistencies" in retailers' practices.

As a result, price comparison may be harder for shoppers, the regulator added.

The CMA's report found that different measurements were being used for similar types of products, making it hard for customers to compare like-for-like deals.

Tea bags were used as an example by the regulator.

They are sometimes priced per 100g, while others brands were unit priced per tea bag.

The CMA also found that consumers sometimes had difficulty reading small text on shelves or labels that were obscured by shop fittings or promotional literature.

The watchdog cleared food shops of profiteering or "greedflation," stating that operating profits in the grocery sector fell by 41.5% in 2022 to 2023, while average margin outlets made on sales fell from 3.2% to 1.8% as costs increased faster than revenue.

As the rate of price rises slows, the CMA said there are signs that grocery retail