Coles 'Down Down' price manipulation

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Background

Coles is the second largest supermarket in Australia with a market share of 29% . In 2010, Coles launched a new sub-slogan, "Down Down, Prices Are Down", featuring a large red cartoon hand pointing downwards to symbolise the chain's low-price policy with the implication being that "prices are down and staying down". In September 2024, the ACCC brought legal action against Coles, accusing the supermarket of misleading customers on discounts through their Down Down promotions.

Case

The ACCC has alleged that items sold in the Coles Down Down add campaign fails to provide a genuine discount claiming that numerous product prices had been artificially increased.

It showed that Coles would have products artificial price hikes in their products with numerous examples of products having their "regular" price being set higher for roughly 30 days before having a "reduction", often higher than where it was previously despite having a Down Down discount sticker. This, the ACCC argues is misleading consumers into thinking that they are getting an actual discount where any reasonable consumer would understand it not to be so. This is further backed up leaked emails such as “We need to ensure we can get a ‘WAS’ callout for all future DD’s so we need to inflate white ticket price ahead of final DD price.

Coles is defending this case by claiming that what they are doing is within the bounds of the law, the case is still ongoing.

References

1. Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coles_Supermarkets
2. ACCC Supermarkets inquiry February 2025 Final report https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/supermarkets-inquiry_1.pdf
3. ACCC v Coles Federal court of Australia https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/services/access-to-files-and-transcripts/online-files/accc-v-coles