Major supermarkets to trial unit pricing for selected products, meant to target shrinkflation & price gimmicks

If you struggle with determining the best-value item at the supermarket, here’s some good news.

Under a new trial that will take place later this year, major supermarkets will display the unit prices of selected grocery items.

Unit prices refer to the price per unit measurement — for instance, S$X per litre of milk, or S$X per kilogram of apples.

This will help consumers compare the prices of products more easily across different brands and package sizes, and as such make more informed purchasing decisions.

Value for money

The trial was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong at the the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) Partners' Appreciation Dinner on Mar. 15.

The pilot is a collaboration between CASE and the government, he said.

The trial will involve four supermarket operators, and will be launched at selected supermarket outlets of NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong, and Prime Supermarket.

Grocery items whose unit prices will be shown include commonly-purchased products like rice, meat, eggs, cooking oils, fruit, and vegetables.

During the trial, unit prices will be displayed in different ways at different supermarkets, to determine the best way to communicate the information to consumers.

A market survey firm will also be engaged by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) to gather feedback from consumers.

Seeing through gimmicks

Melvin Yong, president of CASE, said that unit pricing helps consumers to “see through pricing gimmicks quickly and easily”, according to a joint statement by CASE and CCCS on the same day.

Unit pricing is also a useful tool to address shrinkflation, he said.

Shrinkflation refers to the practice in which a product’s size or quantity is reduced, while the price remains the same.

The chief executive officers of FairPrice and Sheng Siong also expressed their support for the trial.

Vipul Chawla, group CEO of FairPrice, said that the pilot will “enable [FairPrice] to deliver even greater value and affordability to [its] customers”.

Lim Hock Chee, CEO of Sheng Siong Group, added that the initiative will help customers “make informed choices and stretch their dollars”.

Top image from Cold Storage/Google Maps