Mike Ashley’s very own Sports Direct has been accused of fowl play when it
comes to its discounting practice. The high street sporting goods store is
said to mislead consumers into thinking they are getting a bargain price by
exaggerating original retail prices, a practice off-price department store
was previously charged with.
In Channel 4 Dispatches: Secrets of Sports Direct, which aired Tuesday
night, investigator Harry Wallop and his team unearthed several of the
practices behind the retailers marketing ploys which have helped Sports
Direct become of the high street’s biggest success stories. With
discounting singled out as ‘the most obvious tactic’ the retailer use to
entice consumers, Sports Direct has been accused of inflating the original
prices of their merchandise in order to convince shoppers that they were
getting a better deal than they actually were.
Deborah Parry, consumer law consultant and expert at Hull University points
out by printing out a higher original price and then crossing it out
before the product has even hit the stores was not in line with the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills guidelines. The published
guidelines state that in order to display both the original higher price
and the discounted price on a label, the item must have been for sale for
the original price for at least 28 days, which the team found was not the
case at Sports Direct.
“It is quite clear that their labelling is not following the terms of the
guidance – they are not providing sufficient information,” said Parry.
“[Stores are] supposed to spell out exactly what their offer means, how
long it has been on display, whose previous price it is, and if it hasn’t
been sold for very long, they should be saying how long it has been sold at
that higher price. So consumers can look at the label, read them, make a
proper decision and then act on it.”
Other misleading practices used by Sports Direct highlighted by Channel 4
included stores featuring ‘Closing Down Sale’ signs when in fact the store
was relocating to another unit nearby and then offering the same prices in
the new store, which can trick customers into thinking they are getting a
special deal on the price of the item, when they are not. “If [consumers]
are not aware that the prices are going to be maintained at the new store,
then they may be making purchasing decisions that they regret afterwards,”
added Parry.
Sports Direct maintains it does not aim to mislead any of its customers.
“Our intention is to continue to bring our customers exceptional value for
money and that they continue to get the most competitive prices,” said a
company spokesperson. “We continue to monitor our promotions to help
achieve this.”
Click Here: New Zealand rugby store