Frasers calls on ASA to reconsider RRP approach

British retail giant Frasers Group has called on the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to reconsider its approach to recommended retail prices (RRPs), arguing that current guidance risks creating unnecessary barriers to price competition.

In a letter dated August 28, Frasers chief financial officer Chris Wootton said the group believed the organisation's position could make it harder for retailers to promote genuine discounts amid a period in which value remains a major concern for consumers.

The intervention follows the ASA’s updated guidance on RRPs, published earlier this month. The regulator states that while retailers can quote genuine RRPs, comparisons may mislead consumers if the RRP differs from the price at which a product is generally sold in the market.

Frasers, however, has challenged this “generally sold” test, arguing that it places a burden on retailers to gather pricing data from across the market. Wootton also said the approach could prevent retailers from using RRPs for products sold exclusively by one retailer, items that have not yet launched or products where evidence of actual sales at the RRP is unavailable.

The retailer pointed to the recent High Court ruling in the Emma Sleep case, which Frasers claimed to have supported a broader assessment of whether a reference price is genuine or realistic.