John Lewis Black Friday Apple Watch promotion deemed 'unfair' by watchdog
A Black Friday promotion from John Lewis has been deemed "unfair" by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a customer questioned whether the department store was withholding stock of the Apple Watch.
John Lewis Black Friday Apple Watch promotion deemed 'unfair' by watchdog
During the brand's online Black Friday event, the complainant found the product was listed as out of stock when she attempted to buy it at the reduced competitor 'price match' offer of £249 – a promotion which had been advertised on the retailer's homepage.
The consumer noted the item was available the following day at full price and challenged whether the deal had been administered fairly.
John Lewis said the promotion was a price match based on its rivals' activity which had resulted in an unprecedented increase in sales. It did, however, concede that its own stockholding systems didn't give accurate minute-by-minute information and as such the watch "was perhaps removed earlier than it could have been".
The British brand argued that the decision was made "on good faith" and in the context of a notable uplift on Black Friday, its busiest day of the year. However, the ASA upheld the ruling on the grounds that the 'price match' guarantee was in relation to competitor's promotion and as such had a time limit which meant normal marketing rules applied.
The regulator said it "acknowledged the surrounding circumstances" but considered John Lewis' action to make a product unavailable on its website while a competitor's promotion was still running meant it had denied consumers the opportunity to purchase at a reduced price, despite the retailer still having stock available.
The ad must not appear again in its current form, and the ASA has cautioned John Lewis for dealing with customers fairly in the future and to avoid causing "unnecessary disappointment" by withholding promotional stock.
Last year, Argos fell foul of ASA rules on Black Friday after the watchdog found an ad for discounted laptops to be "misleading".