Supermarkets unfair about price reductions

Supermarkets in the Netherlands are promising lower prices, but these often turn out to be misleading. A study by the Consumentenbond reveals that major chains like Aldi, Dirk, and Jumbo advertise price reductions that are frequently inaccurate or outdated. This creates confusion among consumers and wrongly suggests that they are benefiting from lower prices.

Price reductions that don’t exist

An examination of hundreds of advertised price reductions shows that many of these claims are false. In some cases, products have never been reduced in price, or the reduction occurred months ago, despite regulations allowing price reductions to be advertised for only 30 days. Another tactic observed is that supermarkets increase the price of a product before promoting a seemingly lower price.

Example of misleading claims

One clear example was found at a Jumbo store, where a pack of butter was advertised as ‘permanently reduced in price’. In reality, the price of this product had increased by 21% over five months, from €1.80 to €2.18. Aldi advertised baking paper as being cheaper, although the price drop had taken place almost a year earlier. Dirk followed a similar approach with margarine, where the price was first increased and then slightly lowered.

Supermarkets' response

The supermarkets involved have responded to the findings of the Consumentenbond. Both Aldi and Jumbo stated that the issue was caused by shelf labels that had been left up for too long. They have promised to include the date of the price reduction in future advertisements. Initially, Dirk did not provide a response, but later made similar commitments to improve their pricing practices.

Consumentenbond.nl