Australian Court Finds Coles Misled Shoppers With Discount Promotions

An Australian court ruled May 14, 2026, that Coles Group misled shoppers by raising prices on hundreds of household items and then promoting discounts that were higher than the original prices. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed the case in 2024 amid public scrutiny of supermarket pricing during an inflation surge. The lawsuit focused on about 245 products advertised as discounted between February 2022 and May 2023, including 14 items from Coles’ “Down Down” promotion reviewed at trial. Federal Court Justice Michael O’Bryan said Coles’ price increases were commercially justifiable given rising supplier costs, but the retailer applied promotional discounts too soon for them to be genuine. He said 13 of the 14 reviewed promotions were misleading because the products were not sold at the stated “was” price for a reasonable period. A case management hearing is scheduled for June 10, 2026.