In our submission to the government's inquiry into the supermarket sector last month we highlighted a range of tricky pricing strategies aimed at convincing us we're saving money.
The reality is that supermarket prices have gone nowhere but up, and many of the endless promotions seem to come with no true savings.
Such tactics were grounds for a CHOICE Shonky Award, which we conferred on the supermarket duopoly last year.
Now the ACCC is asking supermarket customers, as well as farmers and other suppliers, to air their issues, as it launches its first full-scale inquiry into the sector since 2008.
Shopper survey now open
The regulator will use its legal authority to demand data and documents from the supermarkets, "but consultation with consumers and grocery sector participants is an important first step in our inquiry", says ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh.
Shoppers can fill out an online survey until 2 April to voice their concerns, including issues around 'was/now' pricing and shrinkflation (where package sizes shrink while prices rise).
"The ACCC inquiry and consumer survey is a good opportunity for people to share their experiences of shopping at the major supermarkets," says CHOICE senior policy and campaigns adviser Bea Sherwood.
[The survey] will help the ACCC understand how Australians shop and what they think about the plethora of pricing practices that supermarkets deploy
CHOICE senior policy and campaigns adviser Bea Sherwood
"It will help the ACCC understand how Australians shop and what they think about the plethora of pricing practices that supermarkets deploy."
Sherwood says the potentially misleading pricing strategies include tags that say 'everyday price', 'fresh special', 'down down', 'while stocks last' and so on.
"Consumers continue to be confused about what they mean," she adds.
Profit margins to be scrutinised
Along with the consumer survey, the ACCC has released an issues paper focusing on the level of competition between the supermarkets as well as the inner workings of grocery supply chains.
The focus on competition will include an examination of the barriers new supermarkets face when trying to enter the market or expand operations.
We will conduct a detailed comparison of the price suppliers receive for their goods and the price consumers pay at the checkout, and the profits the supermarkets earn
ACCC deputy chair Mick Keough
Crucially for consumers, the inquiry will also include a look at how supermarkets set prices and whether "there is evidence to show that a lack of effective retail competition is contributing to higher prices", the ACCC's Keogh says.
"We will conduct a detailed comparison of the price suppliers receive for their goods and the price consumers pay at the checkout, and the profits the supermarkets earn."
History of pushing suppliers around
The last top-to-bottom investigation of the supermarket industry happened in 2008, and it also focused on questions of retail pricing and how much competition there actually was in the sector.
In short, there was more competition then than there is now, but there wasn't much then either.
More recently the ACCC has investigated the duopoly's tendency to dictate terms to the businesses that fill its shelves.
In 2014 the regulator took Coles to court for unconscionable conduct in its treatment of suppliers.
The tactics included demands for extra payments if they wanted Coles to sell their products and withholding payments for shipments received.
In 2014 the regulator took Coles to court for unconscionable conduct
The result was a $10 million fine for Coles and a stern rebuke from the Justice presiding over the case.
"Coles' practices, demands and threats were deliberate, orchestrated and relentless," the judgement read.
The ACCC has investigated Woolworths for similar conduct, including a scheme that involved demands for extra payments from suppliers to shore up the supermarket's profit margins.
It's the kind of conduct that wouldn't come as a shock to a shopper.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
