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Heavy fines proposed for anti-competitive supermarket practices

Inside Retail

Treasurer Jim Chalmers expressed support for the independent review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, proposing a mandatory code which – if adopted – will result in multi-million dollar penalties for supermarkets and suppliers who engage in anticompetitive practices. “This is all about a fair go for farmers and families.

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Is this the end of Australia’s supermarket duopoly?

Inside Retail

The allegations of price-gouging during a cost-of-living crisis by Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths could finally be the death knell of the duopoly that has long dominated the country’s grocery sector. In December last year, the Senate announced an inquiry into the price-setting practices and market power of major supermarkets.

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The new Tiktok challenge waging war on the major supermarkets’ pricing

Inside Retail

Independent Queensland grocer Skippys Fresh Frootz has garnered attention on social media for its videos highlighting its low prices at a time when Australia’s major supermarkets are facing scrutiny for their lack of transparency in their price-setting practices. Bunnings is now back in first place.

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Why supermarkets could face scrutiny for the way they discount, too

Inside Retail

Amidst multiple inquiries into the price-setting practices of Australian supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles are seemingly leading with more specials and promotions than ever. Choice is looking for the real deal Supermarkets are where Australians feel cost-of-living pressures the most, and food inflation is far from a myth.

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ACCC to conduct enquiry on Australian supermarkets’ pricing and competition

Inside Retail

The pricing practices of Australia’s supermarket near-duopoly are about to the the focus of a year-long enquiry by the government’s competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The regulator’s investigation resulted in identifying more than 700 potentially restrictive leases.

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Coles taken to task over ‘discount’ promotions consumers don’t understand

Inside Retail

Coles has the most confusing promotional labels, consumer advocacy group Choice said as it calls for supermarkets to make their tags clear and easy to understand for shoppers. “The current promotion was for a discount that was applied about five years earlier,” the consumer advocacy group said.

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Opinion: Why the current supermarket inquiries are so threatening 

Inside Retail

Over the decades, Australia’s major supermarkets have emerged from various parliamentary and regulatory agency inquiries, not to mention political, media, union and consumer group pressures, relatively unscathed. This time supermarkets are caught in a political quagmire and the repercussions of an economic and social reset.