• On a video that has gone viral on Facebook, a user denounces a scam of supermarkets.

  • Filming packs of milk in a Carrefour Market supermarket, the consumer explains that the product sold by the batch would be more expensive than the sale by unit.

  • At

    20 Minutes

    , Carrefour admits an error.

    But according to a survey published by

    60 million consumers

    , this observation could occur much more frequently than expected.

Are supermarkets scamming us?

This is what denounces a video relayed massively on Facebook.

The scene takes place in the heart of a Carrefour Market, the exact location of which is not indicated.

"I had seen a video on TikTok, I'm going to go see if it's true", says the "whistleblower".

In the middle of the shelves, a mountain of milk packs is arranged with a sign enticing the consumer: the batch of ten bottles is sold at 9 euros.

The storefront is presented as a promotion.

However, it would be nothing.

"I'll take a liter and see what happens," said the woman in the supermarket.

By scanning it at the price terminal, she discovers that the single bottle costs 0.72 cents.

The pack of ten bottles of milk should therefore cost 7.20 euros, not 9 euros.

If Carrefour Market admits to 20 Minutes "an error", the problem could be much more global.

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Yes, there are many hiccups in the displays of certain supermarkets.

To better understand how it works, we contacted the Carrefour brand, responsible for the bad display put forward by the Internet user.

"Our policy is to practice clear and honest promotions vis-à-vis our customers", assures the press service of the group.

But sometimes problems like that of milk packs can arise, explains the Carrefour Group.

“Given the number of stores we have (more than 5,000) and the thousand of products and promotions that we offer to our customers throughout the year, errors can occur.

As soon as we realize it, a correction is immediately made, as was the case for the promotion of the ten Lactel bottles”.

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A certain gluttony for promotions

A mistake rectified, but a common mistake in supermarkets.

This was revealed by the survey of the magazine

60 million consumers

, published last January.

By scrutinizing the promotions put forward on 63 products, the investigators observed several anomalies in the discounts promised by the brands studied (Lidl, Auchan, Carrefour, E.Leclerc, Intermarché and U Express. A finding that occurs when, in 2020, 47% of French people say they are actively looking for promotions, according to a study by the marketing firm Sogec, quoted by our colleagues.According to this study, seven out of ten people select a product if a promise of a reduction in price is made.

Among the families of errors,

60 million consumers

noticed in particular that products were sold at a higher price in batches than individually.

This is the very example spotted on the shelves of Carrefour Market with milk bottles.

During its investigation, the magazine noted that products sold in pairs cost more per kilo than the same product individually.

With

60 million consumers

, a brand explains that faced with competition between stores, supermarkets have to reduce product prices… sometimes forgetting to adjust the prices of batches.

Promotions, 20% of turnover

Investigators from

60 Million Consumers

also noted other inaccuracies in some promotions.

A product highlighted by a promotional campaign or at the top of the gondola may sometimes not benefit from any discount.

In other brands, confusion can also be made between the normal price and the promotion present in the same department, which could mislead the consumer.

Other hiccups are also revealed by the survey, in particular stock shortages have been noticed by some customers who denounce the unavailability of a product from the first day of its promotion.

According to the consumer code, this can be considered a deceptive commercial practice.

These techniques used by supermarkets are not insignificant.

Today, brands are well aware of this: promotions represent a large part of their turnover.

20% according to

60 million consumers

.

Thus, all methods are good - and sometimes very misleading - to attract the customer to a product.

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