Ten companies have once again misled consumers with their pricing, according to the Swedish Consumer Ombudsman. If no improvement is made, the Swedish chains risk heavy fines.
Initially, the Swedish Consumer Ombudsman opened an investigation into 30 companies in the industry that violated the new regulations. Among the companies were the sports chains Stadium and XXL. These retailers have not complied with the rule changes in the Price Information Act of 2022. These companies had previously promised to correct their price marketing.
This time, the Swedish Consumer Agency followed up on how the companies performed during the Black Friday period in 2024. It turned out that ten companies had again failed to comply. They are therefore being ordered to remedy the problems and, if no improvement is made, they risk a total penalty of SEK 22 million. A penalty payment should not be confused with a fine; it is forward-looking and may be imposed if the company violates the prohibition.
“These are large, well-known companies that have been caught in our review. They have all previously made mistakes and been subject to our measures. That is why we are now moving forward with injunctions,” says Maja Lindstrand, lawyer at the Swedish Consumer Agency.
Campaign prices attract
When a product is sold at a reduced price, the company must state the previous lowest price at which the product was sold in the last 30 days, according to the Price Information Act. The sales price in an offer must be lower than the previous lowest price. Discounts in percent or dollars must be based on the previous lowest price. It is not permitted to calculate the discount on any other price.
The Consumer Ombudsman takes misleading information in connection with the marketing of reduced prices seriously.
“We consumers want to feel that we are getting a good deal. That’s why we are particularly attracted by red prices, campaigns, and large discounts, such as when it says that an item is reduced by 50 percent,” she says.
Misleading pricing
The ten companies were from all conceivable segments, and two of them are sportswear companies: XXL and Stadium.
One company sold a winter jacket with a 22 percent discount. The problem was that the discount was not calculated from the jacket’s lowest price in the last 30 days, but from a higher price. In reality, the price was not even discounted in relation to the previous lowest price, but was actually 299 SEK higher.
SGI Europe got hold of XXL’s Communication Director Jan Christian Thommesen, who admits the chain’s mistake.
“It is our job to keep things in order. We did not do so in this case, and we apologize for that,” Thommesen said. “The Consumer Agency has brought to our attention that there was a specific color model of a product that we had not changed to the correct price in the weeks prior to the campaign. When we were made aware of this, we immediately reviewed all our procedures for price campaigns and went through all our checklists.”
Thommesen also says that XXL is working on the problem of price fraud.
“We are now strengthening training for all employees who work with our campaign tools. We also have a good working relationship with the Swedish Trade Federation in this area, and this will be strengthened. We are doing everything we can to ensure that this does not happen again,” he concluded.
SGI Europe has tried to reach Stadium’s Kristina Skoog-Rappestad for a statement on this matter, but the company has never gotten back with an answer.
Speaking to the local newspaper Corren, Stadium’s Commercial Director Pino Roscigno said that the chain still does not understand the rules on pricing. Stadium started its business in 1974 with its first store in the city of Norrköping.
“We have certainly not misled our customers,” said Roscigno. “But we and others find it difficult to interpret the new rules,” he concluded.
