Furniture Galore Pty Ltd has paid three infringement notices totalling $19,800 and provided a court enforceable undertaking to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for misleading consumers about advertised savings.
"In the midst of the summer sales period this is a very timely reminder to all retailers that they must ensure that any advertised savings are genuine and not misleading or deceptive," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
Between July 2010 and September 2011, Furniture Galore represented that certain goods in its catalogues and radio advertisements were 'on sale' at reduced prices or that customers could make 'savings' below the usual selling price.
Furniture Galore admitted that it had not sold or genuinely offered those goods at the higher usual selling price for a reasonable amount of time immediately prior to making the savings representations or at all during the 16 months that the advertisements were published.
The Australian Consumer Law requires that representations about savings, reductions or discounts must reflect real and true savings for consumers.
"Two-price advertising is a powerful marketing tool designed to encourage consumers to make purchases during a sale period because the goods are cheaper than normal," Mr Sims said.
"Retailers who overstate or misrepresent the value of savings offered to consumers during special sales or promotions risk financial penalties or court action by the ACCC."
Furniture Galore is required to publish various corrective notices in all Furniture Galore stores, on its website, in an industry magazine and in the Herald Sun newspaper. It will also implement a trade practices law compliance program.
The court enforceable undertaking will be available on the Public Register on the ACCC's website at www.accc.gov.au