New Zealand’s (NZ) Commerce Commission (CC) intends to initiate legal proceedings against Woolworths NZ and Pak’nSave outlets in Silverdale and Mill Street for alleged overpricing and promotional violations.  

The supermarkets may have contravened the Fair Trading Act by offering promotional misrepresentations and displaying incorrect prices. 

Commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said: “Shoppers should have confidence that the price they see will be the price they pay, and [that] specials really are special. Supermarkets have long been on notice about the importance of accurate and clear pricing and specials, and we’re not satisfied with the continuing issues we’re seeing across the industry. 

“The charges we’re filing against major supermarket brands are to remind all supermarket operators that we expect them to fix ongoing pricing accuracy issues and implement better processes to prevent issues like these in the future.”  

Woolworths NZ stated that it has been collaborating with the NZCC on the investigations for a while and will assess the legal proceedings once they are submitted. 

A representative from Foodstuffs, parent company of Pak'nSave and other New Zealand grocery chains, confirmed that the Silverdale and Mill Street stores have been fully cooperative with the NZCC's investigation. 

Woolworths New Zealand managing director Spencer Sonn said: “We know how important it is that our customers can trust that the prices we advertise, or have on our shelf labels, are what they pay at the checkout. But sometimes errors occur. 

“To address this, Woolworths New Zealand has a long-standing and market-leading refund policy. In summary, if a customer is charged more for a product than the price we advertised it for, or is displayed on our shelf, they get a refund and to keep the product.” 

The NZCC is also investigating other supermarket operators.  

Grocery commissioner Pierre van Heerden discussed the development of a mandatory disclosure standard under the Grocery Industry Competition Act. This standard aims to simplify the process of recognising and addressing industry trends.

The commission is collaborating with major supermarkets to finalise what information will be encompassed by the standard, with a draft anticipated in early 2025.

In July 2024, Woolworths New Zealand reported a significant rise in assaults in its stores in 2023 compared with 2022.