It is interesting to see the CMA beginning a review of supermarket ‘loyalty prices’, something which has become common in the sector in recent years.  The review, which is in its early stages, will bring back memories of the CMA's review following the Which? super complaint in 2015, which looked in to allegations of misleading pricing practices across the grocers, and ended up in Trading Standards publishing updated (and extensive) guidance on pricing practices. 

The CMA's review will focus on:

• whether any aspects of loyalty pricing could mislead shoppers, for example whether the loyalty price is a genuine promotion or as good a deal as presented;
• whether any groups of shoppers are disadvantaged by this type of promotional activity; and
• whether loyalty pricing is impacting consumer behaviour, and whether this has an impact on how supermarkets compete with each other.

We can expect an update from the CMA in July 2024. Watch this space!