Does a new “digital deal” law mean what it says, or is it enough for the city to simply say what it means?
That confusion has left tens of thousands of shoppers in the eighth-largest U.S. city without access to most digital coupons that shoppers in the rest of the country can get, as two powerful stakeholders square off, with no end in sight to their spat.
It’s been two weeks since the city of San Diego officially implemented its closely-watched, first-of-its-kind Grocery Pricing Transparency Ordinance, aimed at making digital-only deals accessible to those who lack digital access. But the largest grocery chain in the city, and the city leaders responsible for the ordinance itself, appear to be at an impasse over exactly what the ordinance requires grocery stores to do.
Most grocery stores in the city have made their advertised digital-only deals, such as those featured in the weekly circular, available via other methods. Hundreds more unadvertised digital coupons, meanwhile, are available on the retailers’ website or app for shoppers to discover on their own.
Albertsons and Albertsons-owned Vons stores in the city also offer alternative ways for the digitally-disconnected to take advantage of advertised digital-only deals. But they’ve also removed hundreds of digital coupons from San Diego shoppers’ coupon galleries. Shoppers outside the city currently have more than 400 digital coupons to choose from. Shoppers inside the city have about 30.
City council member Sean Elo-Rivera, who introduced the ordinance, is not impressed. Albertsons is “the only retailer interpreting this as requiring them to withhold hundreds of digital coupons from their customers inside the city that are available to those outside the city,” a spokesperson for the council member told Coupons in the News. “This is unfortunate, unnecessary, and we strongly encourage them to do what other grocers have done – comply with the law in such a way that improves the customer experience by making pricing more transparent and better to access.”
Albertsons is responding by pointing a finger right back at the city. As originally written, the ordinance would have required in-store alternatives to any digital discounts, including all digital coupons. Retailers argued this was unduly burdensome, if not impossible. Digital coupons need to be clipped, associated with an individual shopper’s account, they’re often limited in quantity, and can’t simply be printed up in paper form or applied as automatic discounts. So the city council attempted to change the language to make clear that the ordinance pertained only to advertised digital discounts – but for some reason didn’t use the phrase “advertised digital discounts,” instead opting for “publicly available digital discounts.”
When asked to clarify the ordinance’s intent, Elo-Rivera reiterated what he told Coupons in the News back in March. “It does not regulate websites or apps,” he said again. “It simply ensures that if a digital discount is advertised in-store or in a weekly ad, it must also be available in a non-digital format.”
Not good enough, Albertsons says. As long as it’s unclear what a “publicly available digital discount” is – since digital coupons are, after all, available to the public – Albertsons has opted to take a cautious approach in following the letter of the ambiguous law. If the retailer is unable to make all digital-only discounts in the city available in a non-digital format, it won’t make the majority of them available at all.
“We would welcome working with city council to clarify their intent through an amendment to the ordinance to make clear that it only applies to advertised deals,” an Albertsons spokesperson told Coupons in the News.
“We do not see an amendment as necessary,” Elo-Rivera’s spokesperson countered, noting that the ordinance had already been amended “to create more certainty” for retailers. “Given the implementation by other grocers and the warm reception to that implementation, we see Albertsons’ choice to blame the city as nothing more than a corporate temper tantrum.”
As both sides dig in, San Diego shoppers appear equally divided. Some who have been weighing in on social media are not happy with Albertsons and Vons. “So why is this a problem only at Vons and not at Ralphs?” one shopper wondered. “I’m inclined to agree with the other comments saying this is just Vons throwing a tantrum because they have to make their digital only coupons more accessible. And they’re using this as an opportunity to make their inflated prices the new normal.”
Another shopper called Albertsons’ actions “predictable corporate greed lashing out, not a ‘problem with the legislation.’ They are CHOOSING to hurt consumers to get us angry at the city in hopes we reverse this.” Another predicted that “Vons will simply lose business.. They are daring you to shop somewhere else instead of actually complying with the spirit of the law.” And another lamented that “when the government tries to do something to help people, corporations go rogue and punish the consumer so we get upset with those who try to help.”
Others are displeased with the city, believing the ordinance forced Albertsons into a no-win situation. One shopper blamed the city’s “elected leaders with no understanding of economics… Don’t blame Vons for following the law.” A second shopper called the ordinance “a very misguided policy that hurts a lot more people than it would’ve actually helped,” while another called it a “worthless government regulation that will only raise prices.”
And another shopper complained that, due to the city’s new ordinance, “now I can’t shop at my local store and have to drive to a neighboring city just to be able to use coupons to afford my groceries. Great job!”
Making digital-only deals more accessible to those without digital access may have been a noble goal. But making all digital coupons uniformly applicable to all purchases is a step too far for those offering them. The former was San Diego’s goal, while digital coupons’ disappearance appears to be an unfortunate unintended consequence of the city’s actions.
On a company earnings conference call yesterday, Albertsons CEO Susan Morris noted that the retailer has witnessed a shift in shopper behavior lately. “What we’ve seen from the consumer is a continued focus on value,” she said. “We see an increased usage in coupons. We see them sticking closer to their shopping list, maybe not buying that extra item.”
That increased use of coupons may be true in the other cities where Albertsons does business, but not in one city in particular – and potentially elsewhere, as other cities and states look to follow San Diego’s lead. It all comes down to what San Diego’s ordinance is meant to do, versus what it actually says it does. Ultimately, it may be up to shoppers to let retailers know what they think by voting with their wallets – or to let council members know what they think, the next time they visit the ballot box.
Image sources: Vons / City of San Diego
