Poundworld‘s ‘everything £1‘ claim has been called out by Watchdog and the Advertising Standards Authority for being classed as being misleading.
Watchdog have declared the ‘everything £1‘ marketing tagline must not be used until the stores prices match that promise. Customers complained after finding items priced at £3 and £8.99. These products were ‘managers specials‘ which are only available for a short amount of time and marketing staff believe are such a great offers that this within itself justifies stocking it amongst products priced at £1. The staff also complained about the issue as they received abuse from customers over the high prices.
The Yorkshire value retailer Poundworld first store was opened back in 2004 and offers 5,000 products for £1. The store sells items ranging from cleaning products, pet food, shampoo and groceries.
The one pound chains are struggling to keep their prices down and have to buy in large quantities of suppliers in order to get a good deal; therefore the stores are relying on customers to buy in big bulks when visiting their stores.
Stores now have to look into new ways to excite customers, Poundland is launching a new own-brand range of cosmetics, priced at £1 per item, that will be in stores from the end of October. The range, called Make Up Gallery, will consist of 100 lines and will be sold in 480 stores.
Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy said: “The cosmetics industry can be notoriously pricey so we are very proud to launch this range that makes the latest beauty looks and trends accessible to everyone. For under £10, women of all ages can stock up their make-up bags for less.” Value stores such as Poundworld have come under fire by numerous retail broadcast investigators over the years questioning if they are actually good value for money? They compare the prices and the quantity offered against main stream retailers and the results was not all products were the best value on the market. Rival company Poundland have had to strike deals with manufactures and confectionary companies to produce smaller versions of their chocolate bars so the store can sell products such as Toblerone for less then a pound. There are worries that it will get to a point where downsizing products is no longer an option and customer will eventually feel as if they are being sold short.
