Second-Largest U.S. City Could Be Next To Ban Digital-Only Deals

San Diego recently became the first city in the country to regulate how digital grocery deals are offered. And that’s given other cities some ideas of their own.

City council members in nearby Los Angeles have now become the latest lawmakers to consider a citywide ban on digital-only grocery discounts, to help make savings more accessible to those who lack digital access.

The council has approved a motion proposed by Councilmembers Heather Hutt and Curren Price, asking city officials to “prepare a report summarizing grocery transparency laws in other jurisdictions,” and to “prepare and present an ordinance that would require grocery stores that offer digital-only discounts to make readily-available physical coupons with identical pricing available to consumers.”

It’s the first step in a process that could see a second California city require grocery stores to ensure that advertised discounts aren’t only available to shoppers who have digital devices.

“When our grocery stores only utilize digital coupons, it excludes a large number of people in our city from getting the discounts they need. This is a form of digital discrimination that disproportionately affects those who are already struggling financially and who rely on coupons to put food on their tables,” Hutt told Coupons in the News. “Not everyone has a smartphone, and for those on fixed incomes or without reliable internet, digital coupons are out of reach. We need to find a way to offer modern saving options without excluding our most vulnerable neighbors from affordable food.”

Over the past couple of years, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Washington and Illinois have proposed similar measures on the statewide level. But none has gained much traction. San Diego’s version, in contrast, went from proposal to signed ordinance in a matter of months, showing that lawmakers may have more success addressing the issue at the local level. And now that they’ve regulated digital discounts within the city limits, the sponsors of the San Diego ordinance said they plan to propose to county lawmakers that they make the measure effective countywide.

Despite its swift adoption, though, the San Diego ordinance’s path from concept to statute was not without controversy. The original version would have required grocery stores to offer paper versions of all digital coupons, which retailers argued would be so cumbersome as to be impossible. Weeks worth of discussions led to compromise language, calling more broadly for “in-store alternatives” to digital-only discount prices advertised in store or in the weekly ad.

The Los Angeles proposal calling for “physical coupons” as alternatives to all digital-only discounts could bring that debate right back to square one.

The intent of the idea is the same, though – to ensure that the elderly, the economically-disadvantaged or other shoppers who lack digital access or know-how can get the same digital-only discount prices that tech-savvy shoppers have access to.

“By insisting that customers access these discounts through smartphones, grocery stores are effectively excluding a large number of City residents who lack the means to connect to this digital infrastructure,” the Los Angeles councilmembers’ motion reads. “In order to ensure that all City residents, including those who lack access to smartphones and Internet connection, are able to access affordable groceries, the City should adopt an ordinance that allows them to benefit from the same discounts as digital coupon holders.”

“Not everyone has a smartphone or internet access – but everyone deserves access to the same prices,” Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez said after seconding his colleagues’ motion. The goal, he explained, is to ensure that “seniors, low-income shoppers, and people who just don’t want to download another app aren’t left paying more.”

San Diego’s ordinance is likely to have been what inspired Los Angeles to act. But one city’s accomplishment is no guarantee of success elsewhere.

Just ask lawmakers in El Paso, Texas. Back in April, on the very day that San Diego passed the first version of its digital deal ordinance, El Paso city council member Josh Acevedo proposed an ordinance that would have required any grocery store in the city that “offers digital coupons and/or discounts… to make traditional, physical coupons with identical pricing available to consumers.”

But his colleagues voted down the proposal, questioning its feasibility and legality. “The fact remains, a host of El Paso residents lack access to affordable and healthy food items and our Grocery Price Fairness Ordinance was one step towards alleviating some of that pain,” Acevedo told Coupons in the News after the vote. “I will be regrouping with my staff and community members to conduct further outreach to El Pasoans and get greater feedback from our grocery stores to address this issue in the near future.” To date, no replacement measure has been proposed.

Los Angeles’s version comes as many stores in the state of California are already complying with the spirit of the San Diego ordinance. Kroger-owned Ralphs, which has stores in both San Diego and Los Angeles, has been offering “Weekly Digital Deal scan sheets,” which allow shoppers to access all of that week’s advertised digital discounts with the scan of a single paper bar code.

So as more area stores seek to comply with San Diego’s ordinance before it takes effect on October 1st, Los Angeles may find itself mandating something that’s already happening.

But Los Angeles’s effort could also be seen as a way to pressure regional retailers to offer non-digital alternatives beyond the legally-required San Diego city limits. And if retailers do so voluntarily, the digitally-disengaged may see that as the ultimate victory – no legislation required.