'Online discounts not necessarily make things cheaper'

The Consumer Council has advised the public to consider more than just promotional offers when shopping online. They analyzed the prices of 222 products from three major supermarket chains over a 10-month period, from September last year to July. The study revealed that some products were actually more expensive during bulk-buy promotions.

For example, a 410mL bottle of steamed fish soy sauce, which typically costs HK$13, averaged HK$10.95 during a "buy-one-get-one-free" offer. This represented a 16% discount, significantly lower than consumers' expectations of a 50% reduction.

The council emphasized that larger pack sizes do not always equate to better value for money. In fact, they found that the unit price for certain items could be up to 35% higher for bigger packs compared to smaller ones. Consumer Protection Chief Executive Alaina Shum called for supermarkets to display unit prices more clearly, both online and in-store, to help consumers make informed decisions.

She suggested that the practice, already adopted by online stores in the UK and Australia, could be beneficial in Hong Kong as well, even though there is no mandatory requirement for unit price display currently.

Shum stressed that consumers should look beyond the sale prices and discounts, and instead calculate the unit price and compare costs with and without the promotion. To aid consumers in this process, the council launched a dedicated mobile app last month, featuring prices of about 2,800 products from nine online supermarkets, personal care stores, cosmetics retailers, and pharmacies.

This app allows users to easily track prices and identify items with significant price reductions. Shum explained that the primary goal of the app is to make it easier and faster for users to deduce the unit price.