In June last year, Sainsburys launched an advertising campaign with the tagline, 'they look the same, they cost the same', which advertised various products where the price was the same in Sainsburys and Tesco.
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This year, Sainsburys ran a similar campaign promoting their prices compared to Tesco with the tagline 'no difference in price, big difference in... ' suggesting not only that their prices were the same, but that Sainsburys was offering better quality items as well.
Customers might have assumed that this would mean lower prices but Watchdog found that some products featured in the adverts had previously been available at a lower price in Sainsbury's in the three to eight weeks before the adverts were published.
Watchdog's investigation followed a tip off from a young mother with two small children. She often went to Sainsbury's to buy Milupa Aptamil Forward Follow On Milk for her baby. In February, she popped to Tesco (her nearest shop) where she found it was being sold for £8.49, 60p more expensive than she usually found it in Sainsbury's. So, she travelled to Sainsbury's - only to find they had put their own price up by nearly 8% to £8.49. The product had a large 'price check' label by it. She felt that the implication was that the product would now be better value at Sainsbury's, but as it was now more expensive, she felt irritated at getting what she saw as a raw deal.
Watchdog checked nine adverts published in national newspapers over three months this year. It found that 14% of the products featured had been available at a lower price in Sainsbury's sometime in the eight weeks before the adverts were published.
Some products - such as Kronenbourg beer and Country Life Butter - were only 2 pence more than they had been four weeks previously.
But Jacobs Cream Crackers had gone up 20 pence in Sainsbury's between 28th January, and the 28th February from 50 pence to 70 pence for a 300g pack. The crackers were featured in an advert on the 28th February - when the price in both Tesco and Sainsbury's was 70 pence.
Joanna Blythman, an expert on British supermarkets told the programme that:
"We are clearly meant to think when we see a price match statistic that we are getting a good deal. That if a price is the same as another chain's that must surely mean that that was a cheap price, and we are now getting a cheap price. So we're meant to think we are getting great value."
Next time you see a Sainsbury's price check, it might pay to take a closer look.
Watchdog contacted Sainsbury's who insist that there is "no causal relationship" between these price changes and our their advertising campaign."
Sainsbury's went on to say:
"The reason we use price parity advertising is that our customers are often surprised to learn that Sainsbury's sells products at the same value prices as our immediate competitors and this is therefore an important message for us. Your allegation that prices were raised for an advertising campaign is wrong and we categorically deny any such suggestion and are concerned that you may fundamentally mislead viewers if you suggest this is the case."
To give you some context - in the period you are looking at (3rd Jan to 14th March), we made over 30,000 price changes which means we averaged more than 3000 price changes a week. The fluctuation in the small number of products you have singled out is therefore in no way unusual and there is no causal relationship between these price changes and our advertising campaign.
In a highly competitive grocery market, the prices we are charged by suppliers can fluctuate up and down and these changes will often be reflected across all retailers. To ensure we are always competitive we constantly monitor thousands of prices each week in order to deliver great value to our customers.
Of the eight products you have featured, six had been at their advertised price for between three and eight weeks before appearing in the advertisements. This means that the price rises that you refer to were made well in advance of the advertisements going to press. Two further products in your list were actually reduced in price the week before they featured in these advertisements. For the purposes of the campaign, prices were checked against Tesco only a few days (sometimes 24 hours) ahead of the advertisement going into the paper to ensure we could confidently advertise them as a price match."
The reason we use price parity advertising is that our customers are often surprised to learn that Sainsbury's sells products at the same value prices as our immediate competitors and this is therefore an important message for us. Your allegation that prices were raised for an advertising campaign is wrong and we categorically deny any such suggestion..."
"Of the eight products you have featured, six had been at their advertised price for between three and eight weeks before appearing in the advertisements. This means that the price rises that you refer to were made well in advance of the advertisements going to press. Two further products in your list were actually reduced in price the week before they featured in these advertisements. For the purposes of the campaign, prices were checked against Tesco only a few days (sometimes 24 hours) ahead of the advertisement going into the paper to ensure we could confidently advertise them as a price match."
"...a price MATCH campaign is clearly about advertising the fact we charge the same as our competitors, and we don't at any point say or imply that a product is cheaper, so to say it might suggest "ultimately a cheaper price" is simply wrong. Where we have price reductions and great offers, these are clearly communicated to our customers so they know they are making a saving."
Regarding the Milupa Aptamil Forward Follow On Milk Sainsbury's said:
"This was not part of our advertising campaign and we have looked at this separately. The retail increase was the result of a significant cost increase from our supplier in the time period that you have specified. The reason for this was the pound/euro rate and large increases in commodity prices such as skimmed milk powder. In store, we were keen to let our customers know that even when prices on products go up we are still able to offer the same value as our competitors which is why the product had a price check label on the shelf."
Sainsbury's price is right... or wrong?
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
This year, Sainsburys ran a similar campaign promoting their prices compared to Tesco with the tagline 'no difference in price, big difference in... ' suggesting not only that their prices were the same, but that Sainsburys was offering better quality items as well.
Customers might have assumed that this would mean lower prices but Watchdog found that some products featured in the adverts had previously been available at a lower price in Sainsbury's in the three to eight weeks before the adverts were published.
Watchdog's investigation followed a tip off from a young mother with two small children. She often went to Sainsbury's to buy Milupa Aptamil Forward Follow On Milk for her baby. In February, she popped to Tesco (her nearest shop) where she found it was being sold for £8.49, 60p more expensive than she usually found it in Sainsbury's. So, she travelled to Sainsbury's - only to find they had put their own price up by nearly 8% to £8.49. The product had a large 'price check' label by it. She felt that the implication was that the product would now be better value at Sainsbury's, but as it was now more expensive, she felt irritated at getting what she saw as a raw deal.
Watchdog checked nine adverts published in national newspapers over three months this year. It found that 14% of the products featured had been available at a lower price in Sainsbury's sometime in the eight weeks before the adverts were published.
Some products - such as Kronenbourg beer and Country Life Butter - were only 2 pence more than they had been four weeks previously.
But Jacobs Cream Crackers had gone up 20 pence in Sainsbury's between 28th January, and the 28th February from 50 pence to 70 pence for a 300g pack. The crackers were featured in an advert on the 28th February - when the price in both Tesco and Sainsbury's was 70 pence.
Joanna Blythman, an expert on British supermarkets told the programme that:
"We are clearly meant to think when we see a price match statistic that we are getting a good deal. That if a price is the same as another chain's that must surely mean that that was a cheap price, and we are now getting a cheap price. So we're meant to think we are getting great value."
Next time you see a Sainsbury's price check, it might pay to take a closer look.
Watchdog contacted Sainsbury's who insist that there is "no causal relationship" between these price changes and our their advertising campaign."
Sainsbury's went on to say:
"The reason we use price parity advertising is that our customers are often surprised to learn that Sainsbury's sells products at the same value prices as our immediate competitors and this is therefore an important message for us. Your allegation that prices were raised for an advertising campaign is wrong and we categorically deny any such suggestion and are concerned that you may fundamentally mislead viewers if you suggest this is the case."
To give you some context - in the period you are looking at (3rd Jan to 14th March), we made over 30,000 price changes which means we averaged more than 3000 price changes a week. The fluctuation in the small number of products you have singled out is therefore in no way unusual and there is no causal relationship between these price changes and our advertising campaign.
In a highly competitive grocery market, the prices we are charged by suppliers can fluctuate up and down and these changes will often be reflected across all retailers. To ensure we are always competitive we constantly monitor thousands of prices each week in order to deliver great value to our customers.
Of the eight products you have featured, six had been at their advertised price for between three and eight weeks before appearing in the advertisements. This means that the price rises that you refer to were made well in advance of the advertisements going to press. Two further products in your list were actually reduced in price the week before they featured in these advertisements. For the purposes of the campaign, prices were checked against Tesco only a few days (sometimes 24 hours) ahead of the advertisement going into the paper to ensure we could confidently advertise them as a price match."
The reason we use price parity advertising is that our customers are often surprised to learn that Sainsbury's sells products at the same value prices as our immediate competitors and this is therefore an important message for us. Your allegation that prices were raised for an advertising campaign is wrong and we categorically deny any such suggestion..."
"Of the eight products you have featured, six had been at their advertised price for between three and eight weeks before appearing in the advertisements. This means that the price rises that you refer to were made well in advance of the advertisements going to press. Two further products in your list were actually reduced in price the week before they featured in these advertisements. For the purposes of the campaign, prices were checked against Tesco only a few days (sometimes 24 hours) ahead of the advertisement going into the paper to ensure we could confidently advertise them as a price match."
"...a price MATCH campaign is clearly about advertising the fact we charge the same as our competitors, and we don't at any point say or imply that a product is cheaper, so to say it might suggest "ultimately a cheaper price" is simply wrong. Where we have price reductions and great offers, these are clearly communicated to our customers so they know they are making a saving."
Regarding the Milupa Aptamil Forward Follow On Milk Sainsbury's said:
"This was not part of our advertising campaign and we have looked at this separately. The retail increase was the result of a significant cost increase from our supplier in the time period that you have specified. The reason for this was the pound/euro rate and large increases in commodity prices such as skimmed milk powder. In store, we were keen to let our customers know that even when prices on products go up we are still able to offer the same value as our competitors which is why the product had a price check label on the shelf."
Sainsbury's price is right... or wrong?