On 14 December 2023, the ACCC released a draft determination proposing to deny authorisation to Bakers Delight Holdings Ltd to implement a price tiering system for a range of promotional products in its new point-of-sale system.
Promotional discounts are a set of rules that get evaluated against a customer’s shopping cart and determine if the customer gets a discount or not. Promotional discounts can apply to multiple Bakers Delight products of the same type which are known as Value Packs (e.g., 6 hot cross buns) or specific combinations of products which are known as Combos (e.g., a bottle of water and a loaf of bread).
The new point-of-sale system is limited in its handling of price deviations for promotional discounts and does not allow for individual Bakers Delight Bakeries to interact with or modify either the products to which a promotional discount applies or the price of the promotional discount. This differs from the existing point-of-sale system, which allows individual Bakers Delight Bakeries to set the price of promotional discounts.
On current information, the ACCC is not satisfied that the proposed price tiering system is likely to result in a public benefit that would outweigh the likely public detriment. The ACCC is concerned that the price tiering of promotional discounts limits Bakers Delight franchisee’s ability to make independent decisions affecting their financial viability (based on their local market conditions and relevant costs).
The ACCC has invited Bakers Delight and its franchisees to provide further submissions in relation to the impacts of the proposed conduct to assist the ACCC in deciding how much weight to attribute to the likely public benefits and detriments. Further details about the application and how to make a submission are available on the ACCC’s public register at: Bakers Delight.