Tesco, Sainsbury's and Boots are among the high street chains and supermarkets defending their loyalty schemes after an investigation by consumer watchdog Which? raised the alarm over practices that make deals seem better than they are. It comes as the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looks into whether displayed savings are genuine. Last month, the CMA started an investigation into whether supermarkets are artificially inflating non-member prices to make loyalty prices seem more appealing.
Although initial results have suggested retailers are unlikely to be deceiving customers, Which? said its latest investigation has found that some deals "are less impressive than you might assume". It said some retailers had listed "questionable" non-member prices, while others appeared to have put items on offer and then not returned them to their non-member price when the promotion ended. READ MORE: Tesco shoppers fuming over 'criminal' change to lunchtime meal deal The watchdog's investigation revealed that numerous products had been listed at member-only promotional prices for more than half of the year.
Which analysed the pricing history of nearly 12,000 products at health and beauty retailers and supermarkets over the past year - including Boots, Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Superdrug and Tesco. It found that 16 per cent of Superdrug products on a loyalty offer had been at the non-member price for less than half the time. At Boots, the figure was one in 10, while at Tes.