The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) says that if the government is serious about saving taxpayer funds, the first step should be stop funding the Grocery Choice website, which has already cost taxpayers $13 million.
ARA executive director Richard Evans said the Grocery Choice website is nonsense. It provides out-of-date data, irrelevant price comparisons and promotes one brand against another.
“This is a clear example of market interference the government shouldn’t be supporting,” said Evans.
“The website lets down the retail market through bias and misreporting with no community benefit from the $13 million of taxpayers dollars funds. The Grocery Choice site, while initially well intentioned, is a shallow and disturbing configuration which doesn’t provide relevant information for shoppers.
“The retail market is highly competitive – prices can change by the hour and vary between locations. The Grocery Choice information is more of a hindrance to consumers than a help.
Shoppers know where the best deals are – they read the weekly mailings and they consider advertising to determine when they should buy. They don’t need an out-of-date irrelevant website to tell them where specials are, said Evans.