ASA pulls up Poundland for ‘everything for £1’ claim on website
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has stamped out misleading pricing claims from Poundland on the discount retailer’s website.
The ASA investigation was prompted by two complaints regarding misleading claims regarding the outlet's product pricing in its 'About Us’ section, on its website.
The ruling concluded that statements claiming all items were £1, that prices hadn’t changed and that the store offered “a single price” of £1 was misleading to consumers.
Poundland said that “conditional spend” items breaching the £1 limit were in-store due to consumer demand and that “they were clearly marked and located in a special place in the shop,” to clearly express their pricing.
The ASA acknowledged that the majority of Poundland's products retailed at £1 and that items that cost above that amount could only be purchased from the DVD concession or through the "conditional spend" promotion, it also recognised that the retailer’s DVDs were shelved on a concession stand segregated from their £1 products.
The watchdog however had issues with the statements: “Everything for £1 was the idea of our founders in 1990 and we're still true to that great vision today", "Everything for £1 was the idea of our founders in 1990 and we've grown to become the largest single price value retailer in the UK", "The same amazing price since 1990!" and "We are very proud to offer you a single £1 price, that hasn't changed since we opened our first store".
The ASA said: “[This] suggested that every item sold by Poundland cost £1, regardless of whether or not they were sold via a concession arrangement or as promotional goods that were not otherwise available for purchase.
As a result, the ASA demanded that Poundland must change the text and future branding away from suggesting all items cost £1.