<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/21/accc-report-supermarkets-coles-woolworths-aldi>
"Coles and Woolworths increased prices during a cost-of-living crisis to boost
profits and used promotions that made it hard to judge a good shopping deal,
the competition regulator concluded in a major report investigating the sector.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also found the big
chains, along with discount rival Aldi, are among the most profitable
supermarket businesses in the world, and that the sector requires widespread
reform.
In a 441-page report released late on Thursday, the ACCC made 20 reform
recommendations to the federal government, including forcing Coles, Woolworths
and Aldi to publish all prices on their websites, and allow online comparison
tools to access the data to inform shoppers.
There are recommendations designed to improve transparency of pricing,
promotions and loyalty programs to help customers better understand whether an
offer is actually a good deal.
Under the recommendations, the chains would be required to notify customers
when a product’s size has reduced, alerting shoppers to a practice known as
“shrinkflation” commonly used to hide price increases.
The regulator has also recommended the supermarkets provide more transparency
in their negotiations with fresh produce suppliers, after finding there was a
significant bargaining power imbalance."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
