Coles hits back, blames inflation for prices going up
A supermarket giant has withdrawn claims that it misled consumers with a catchy slogan, telling a court that inflation and other factors were responsible for soaring prices.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accused Coles of deliberately deceiving customers with its “down” campaign, which was first launched in 2010.
In his closing submission to the Federal Court, Garry Rich SC argued that the campaign was a tactic to deceive consumers into thinking prices of thousands of products had fallen, when in fact prices had risen across the board.
In one example cited by Mr. Rich, the price of a jar of Coles brand quince paste was increased from $3 to $4.50 over four weeks, then reduced to $3.15.
Mr. Rich argued that four weeks was not a real establishment period for what would legitimately be considered the regular price of the product at $4.50 (“two prices”).
Judge Michael O’Bryan said he had to consider whether the “lower” price amounted to a genuine discount.
John Sheahan KC, for Coles, said the ACCC’s case was flawed because it relied as the main issue on the period for which a product was priced at the “second price”.
“They treat one indicator, the time period, as a substantive issue, when it is just an indicator,” Mr. Sheahan said. he said.
“They made no argument in their evidence that the second price was in fact not a real price other than the relatively short period.”
The retail giant argued that its “bearish” prices were genuine discounts for shoppers, following a surge in wholesale costs during the post-COVID inflation surge.
“Rising inflation is a matter of public comment, a matter of political debate and, importantly, a matter of daily concern for shoppers,” Mr Sheahan said.
Earlier, Mr Rich told the court that “more or less” was not just a meaningless expression.
“(Consumers) think it means something, and they think it means the price of this product has gone down,” he said.
“They see a big red and white ticket and read that the price has ‘gone down’… Many will have no idea the price was lower four weeks ago.”
Judge O’Bryan questioned whether time-pressed consumers could take the meaning of “downward” to be a simple blanket expression for prices as a whole.
But Mr. Rich countered that “downward” implied there had been a higher price.
The commission alleges that the supermarket giant deliberately increased the prices of thousands of everyday items before offering discounts at prices equal to or greater than the original shelf price over a 15-month period.
The case continues.
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