Online furniture retailer Living and Home has been told to clarify future savings claims after an advert was deemed misleading.
A product listing for a Living and Home brand draining rack, seen on the Debenhams website on 30 November 2024, displayed text stating, “Kitchen 2-Tier Metal Dish Drainer Rack […] £18.99 … Save 83%”. A struck through price of “£113.33” was shown next to the current price.
The complainant, who believed the product had not previously been sold for £113.33, challenged whether the savings claim was misleading.
In response, Living and Home Ltd said the original price of the draining rack was based on market pricing strategies and aligned with the prices of similar products on the market. Due to high inventory levels, they had implemented a clearance strategy starting in December 2023, which was why the price was heavily reduced.
They said they were unable to provide recent sales records showing units sold at the original price because of an IT issue, but maintained the product had been sold at £133.33 for an extended period before it was discounted. They said they planned to return the product to the original price once the promotion had ended.
Boohoo Group plc t/a Debenhams confirmed that the pricing and discounting of items sold via their website was controlled and managed by the relevant third parties selling through the platform.
Following an investigation from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), it considered that consumers would understand the claim “Save 83%” to mean that they would be able to make a genuine saving of 83% against the usual selling price of the listed product at the time the ad appeared.
“We acknowledged Living and Home’s view that the product had been sold at the full price for an extended period of time,” the ASA said. “However, for the savings claim to be substantiated, they needed to provide the pricing history of the product, including the number of units sold at each price, which they had not done.
“Because we did not receive that pricing history, we had not seen any evidence to determine the usual selling price of the product. We had also not seen evidence which showed the length of time it had been reduced by 83% against the purported usual selling price.
“We therefore concluded the savings claim had not been substantiated and was misleading. We told Living and Home Ltd to ensure that their future savings claims did not mislead and were substantiated against the usual selling price of the products.”
