Q. A retailer down street has been advertising a 'closing down sale' for over 12 months now with no sign of actually closing down. In fact, the shop is constantly being re-stocked and I wouldn't be surprised if they are already planning next year's closing down sale. Surely it can't be legal to be eternally closing down?
A. Consumers searching for bargains should not be misled by claims about closing down sales and any such adverts must accurately reflect a retailer's genuine intention to close their business premises.
A closing down sale creates the impression that the consumer only has a short period of time to purchase goods and / or that only a limited amount of stock is available and a sale which continue for longer than 6 to 12 months is therefore likely to breach the advertising rules on Truthfulness and Availability of Products. Furthermore, a retailer who holds a closing down or other sale which does not have an end date may be guilty of an offence under the Consumer Protection Regulations.
Retailers are operating in exceptionally harsh trading conditions at present and this had led to an explosion of sales promotions which aim to provide an incentive for a consumer to buy a product. Closing down sales, BOGOF offers (buy one get one free), free prize draws and competitions all help to stimulate trade and are all perfectly valid marketing techniques.
However, there is a regulatory maze for advertisers to navigate affecting sales promotions and they need to be very careful to ensure that any sales promotions do comply with these regulations. If you are a retailer or a consumer and you would like a copy of the relevant rules please email ks@bogof.com or ks@pgslaw.co.uk or call on 0808 2317043.
