CMA's Review on Supermarket Loyalty Prices Unlikely to Find Widespread Misleading Promotions

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is reviewing supermarket loyalty prices to determine if promotions mislead shoppers. Early findings suggest no widespread deceptive practices. The full report is expected in November. The review investigates whether non-loyalty prices are artificially inflated to make loyalty discounts appear more attractive.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated on Friday that its ongoing review of supermarket loyalty prices is unlikely to uncover widespread evidence of misleading promotions targeting shoppers.

Loyalty schemes have been highly successful among the UK's top supermarkets, including Tesco and Sainsbury's, as they offer significantly lower prices to members. A growing number of products are now covered under these schemes, prompting an increasing number of customers to participate. Given this trend, the CMA initiated a review in January.

A full report on the findings is expected in November. The CMA is examining whether non-loyalty prices have been artificially inflated to make loyalty prices appear misleadingly attractive. The assessment spans the pricing before, during, and after a product is included in a loyalty promotion. "Our analysis – involving tens of thousands of loyalty price promotions – is ongoing, but results so far suggest we are unlikely to identify widespread evidence of loyalty promotions misleading shoppers in this way," the CMA reported.

(With inputs from agencies.)