Retailer's ads not all they seem

By JULIE MIDDLETON consumer affairs reporter


Although Briscoes Homeware seems to have sales every few weeks offering up to 50 per cent off usual retail prices, you probably can buy better. That's the verdict of a Consumers' Institute survey.

The news comes as the Commerce Commission announces that it is scrutinising Briscoes for alleged breaches of the Fair Trading Act relating to prices and sales, as part of an ongoing investigation into retail advertising practices.

Communications adviser Gail Kernohan said the investigation into Briscoes started in September, but she would give no further details.

Briscoes' "big advertised discounts aren't always the bargains they seem", says Consumers' Institute senior writer David Hindley, who compared prices for 24 household electrical items across various retailers in mid-January.

"Yes, many of Briscoes' sale prices are as cheap or cheaper than sale prices elsewhere. But we found most of its everyday prices are among the highest in the market.

"In a few cases where Briscoe's discounts looked much bigger than those offered elsewhere, this was because the pre-sale price was much higher."

Other shops surveyed included Farmers, Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming, 100% Your Electric Store and the Wellington-based stores LV Martin and Moore Wilson.


Mr Hindley says sales prices at Briscoes - slogan: "You'll never buy better" - were the cheapest or equal cheapest two-thirds of the time. "That's pretty impressive."

But his advice is to "be cautious" when you see yet another Briscoes sale advertised. "When you see '50 per cent off', be cautious about what it really means."

The survey, he says, shows that in the highly competitive retail world, "shopping around can pay off".

"If you're spending a few hundred dollars, a few minutes phoning around the stores can be time very well spent".

Briscoe Group chief operating officer Peter Burilin says prices are affected by market pressures such as exchange rates.

"We were out of line with some of our prices [at the time of the survey]. Prices were hideously volatile."

He says the company, which has 30 stores, has learned from the survey that it needs to better manage prices during those periods.

Mr Burilin says Briscoes offers a "price promise": If you find a product whose everyday price is cheaper than at Briscoes, the company will beat it by 5 per cent.

That, he says, also works as an early warning system for the company that prices are moving.

Mr Burilin says the Commerce Commission's allegation last year that Briscoes was being misleading about savings available on advertised goods stemmed from a genuine ticketing error. "We've done a huge amount in terms of Commerce Commission compliance."

Briscoes' seemingly endless in-your-face advertising has helped to boost the fortunes of Briscoe Group, whose stable includes Rebel Sports.

Homewares sales for the three months ending January 31 totalled $74.5 million.

But its share price has since fallen dramatically as investors shy away from retail businesses.

Consumer