Ed Betts, retail lead Europe at Retail Express, highlights the increasing levels of legal obligation faced by retailers, and the path to ensuring compliance without failing customers
Retail pricing has come under significant scrutiny in recent years, and is again in the spotlight. The cost-of-living crisis has brought the effects of inflation into sharp focus for consumers. The potential for profiteering and ‘greedflation’ has, given the fluctuating nature of retail pricing and headline-grabbing Consumer Price Index figures, attracted significant press attention. And as certain business costs appear to be easing, retailers themselves harbour concerns over the wholesale prices which continue to be charged to them by suppliers.
The uniting factor here is consistency: consumers need consistent information on pricing to make considered decisions on the products they buy; retailers need to be consistent with the labelling and promotion of special offers; and negotiations with suppliers must be held in a manner consistent with regulatory requirements to be fair and transparent. Given that the schedule of Joint Business Planning means such decisions are often made well in advance, it is vital to implement the built-in compliance of an algorithmic retailing approach early rather than fighting fires later.
Compliance in unit pricing
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), responding to a super complaint by Which? in 2015, concluded that inconsistent and over-complex unit pricing – the system of labelling different products by reference to standard units of weight or volume – can potentially prevent customers from discovering the deal which offers the best value. In the context of the current market, the CMA has resumed its investigation – and its July 2023 findings suggest that little has changed.
Although the Price Marketing Order (PMO) 2004 requires retailers to display unit pricing for most grocery products, the CMA finds its enforcement of specific measures to be ambiguous – and that its structure permits “unhelpful inconsistencies in retailers’ practices”. When the shelf-edge display of one product in a line displays a price per kilogram, one displays a price per gram, and one uses the price per individual item in a pack, it is difficult – if not impossible – for customers to determine which of these offers them the best value. When loyalty card pricing is promoted, the displayed unit prices often do not even fully relate to the eventual price the customer will pay.
Future pricing regulations
The CMA has highlighted (and will enforce against) its non-compliance concerns with many supermarkets, as well as recommending to the government a review of the PMO. It proposes changes including enforcement of a single standardised unit per product type, and clear unit pricing on promotional items. With such tightening of regulations forthcoming, it is essential to put in place systems which align one’s unit pricing – even if the existing data, and data entered into systems through new line forms, is itself inconsistent.
Algorithmic retailing is one way to find equilibrium. It consolidates every point of business data and can process and align it automatically. This means an algorithmic approach could, for example, identify product lines, run the required calculations, and adjust the unit pricing of each item to use consistent measures. It can also automatically produce unit pricing which follows loyalty card or temporary price reductions.
Safely generating promotions
Regulations regarding promotional pricing are, as retailers are well aware, even more stringent. All advertised discounts must consistently adhere to rules set out in the Consumer Protection Regulations, the Advertising Standards Authority’s CAP and BCAP codes, Chartered Trading Standards’ Pricing Practices Guide, et al. But planning these discounts – arranging on-sale dates, ensuring product availability, aligning with supplier discount periods, and meeting periods of high demand – is incredibly difficult, even more so since they must usually be cemented as the JBP is being prepared, without over-ordering if wholesale discounts are available.
Advertising a non-compliant sale or promoting a product discount which is ineligible or cannot otherwise be fulfilled means facing serious fines. With an algorithmic retailing approach, however, non-compliant discounts can be flagged at the planning stage, or even blocked outright. Intimate knowledge of the data, assisted by AI models running within custom-defined guard rails, also means an algorithm can offer additional insight into possible promotions – potentially uncovering new opportunities that a traditional planning process may have missed.
Protecting suppliers through proper process
High wholesale prices have some retailers considering their options. Some major grocery retailers have even requested that their suppliers reconsider their pricing in line with reduced energy and resource costs. This, obviously, must be done in a compliant manner, as a request rather than a demand, but if a supplier cannot meet the expectations of their retailer, the burden of compliance falls on the purchaser. Choosing to de-list a product must, under the terms of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP), be done fairly, with genuine commercial reason, and with reasonable notice to the supplier. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 1% of a large retailer’s turnover – considering the narrow profit margins that retailers operate under, such a fine could be extremely damaging.
Although some critics of the GSCOP say it is somewhat vague with its messaging, algorithmic retailing can, again, help to keep the de-listing process consistent and compliant with regulations. Highlighting those products which underperform or appear too expensive can bring such lines to light in a timely manner and allow the process of de-listing items to begin earlier than it would otherwise occur manually. If a supplier wishes to negotiate or have its decision reviewed, senior buyers will have every piece of relevant information on hand by default and be able to simulate the impact of adjusted pricing.
Staying consistently ahead of the curve
The rate of inflation may be dropping, but it is yet to level off. The market will be in flux for some time to come. This is a period of rapid change, happening under increasingly stringent regulation. Any retailer looking for a route forward has a choice: work harder or work smarter. An algorithmic approach is a smart approach which creates a consistent process structure, allows retailers to act fast, and automates the major burden of compliance, freeing key staff to make the decisions which will shape the post-crisis future of retail businesses.
