Sexist Pricing in Supermarkets

Transcription

1 Sexist Pricing in Supermarkets Policy Briefing Severija Bielskytė Anthony Breach Jemima Olchawski July 2016

2 Methodology and Findings Introduction To assess the gendered price differences between women s and men s items in UK supermarkets, the Fawcett Society investigated the cost of major supermarkets own-brand products specifically looking at Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury s and Morrisons. These supermarkets where chosen as they (in the order listed) have the largest market shares out of all UK retailers 1. Two broad categories were analysed toiletries and clothing and a basket of products was chosen which is comparable across retailers. As Morrisons do not have an own brand range of clothing, the retailer was included only in the analysis of toiletries. Key Findings 2 Women consistently pay more 3 for own brand toiletries and clothing items in the major supermarkets than men The overall sexist price gap for a basket 4 of comparable own brand toiletries is 31%. That means women are paying on average 1.54 more for a basket of items. A basket of own brand gendered toiletries costs: 56% more for women at Morrisons 25% more for women at Sainsbury s 24% more for women at Tesco 22% more for women at Asda Women pay more for clothes too: Overall, women are paying 12% or an average of 4.33 more for a basket 5 of own brand clothes across retailers The gender price gap on a basket of clothes was lowest at Asda where women pay 4% or 1 more than men for comparable items. The gap was highest at Sainsbury s where women pay 22% or 9.50 more than men for a basket of comparable items. 1 Kantar Worldpanel 2 Analysis is based on online prices during July Not all women will choose to buy the version of the product targeted at women. However, for simplicity the difference in goods targeted at women and men are described here as the different amounts paid by women and men. 4 A basket of goods contains a pack of 5 triple blade disposable razors, 200 mls shaving cream, a 250 mls deodorant and 150 mls of body spray. As products are sold in different quantities for women and men and across stores a unit price was identified for each product. These were used to calculate the cost of a standard product size. Items were included at their advertised full price. 5 Four main items made up the basket of clothing items: blue straight fit jeans, white or cream t-shirts, formal white shirts and formal black trousers. Plus-size, maternity, unisex and discounted items were excluded 1

3 Full Findings: Toiletries We identified where store own brands had directly comparable products targeted at men or women; the items that met this criteria across most of the supermarkets were triple blade disposable razors, shaving cream, spray-on antiperspirant deodorant and body spray. The price differences were found by assessing the price per unit 6 for each product, as, while in some cases the price of a pack is the same, it contains a smaller quantity of the given product. (For example a five pack of men s razors might be priced the same as a four pack of the women s.) Fig 1. 60% % Women Pay More - Basket of Comparable Toiletries Tesco ASDA Sainsbury's Morrisons Average 50% 56% 40% 30% 31% 20% 24% 22% 25% 10% 0% 6 Either the price per razor or the price per 100mls 2

4 Fig. 2 Women Pay More - Basket of Comparable Toiletries Tesco ASDA Sainsbury's Morrisons Average Here we found that: In each of the supermarkets, men and women paid an equal amount for at least one of the products in the basket. In Tesco the prices for men s and women s version of two products were equal (shaving cream and deodorant.) However, women on average are still paying 31% more for this basket of items across the four retailers. The largest gender price gap on the basket was found at Morrisons at 56% and the lowest at Asda at 22%. It could be argued that it is common to pay less per unit when buying more. The problem here though is that women are not given the option to benefit from these economies of scale and are consistently the ones who pay more for less. Gender Neutral Options The Fawcett Society also looked into which retailers offer gender neutral versions of commonly used items. Whilst not included in the overall analysis we found that Waitrose brands all of its own-brand toiletries in a non-gendered way. Additionally, all four of the retailers in this study have gender neutral versions of shampoos, shower gels and some versions of deodorants, although some provide gendered variants on these items. This choice should be available to shoppers who do not wish to buy into many of the gendered stereotypes associated with gender targeted goods. 3

5 However, it is not necessarily problematic that retailers choose to offer gendered versions of these products and we do not object to women and men being given the choice to purchase along these lines. The problem is that versions of the product targeted at women are consistently more expensive. It is unclear why this should be the case, particularly as in each retailer some gendered versions of the products are available priced equally. If, to take one example, Tesco and Sainsbury s are able to offer women s shaving cream at the same price as that targeted at men why should it cost between 13% and 22% more for the women s versions of this product at Asda and Morrisons? Sainsbury s Basics Furthermore, while Sainsbury s budget range Sainsbury s basics are branded in an gender neutral way, in the store we visited the range was shelved specifically alongside other products targeted at men 7. We did not include these items in the price gap calculation, but have chosen to point out this finding, as we believe this again reinforces the conclusion that Sainsbury s expects women to pay more for products than men. Full findings: The gender price gap for clothes Fawcett also identified the difference in prices for items of clothing. We compared the prices of blue straight fit jeans, white or cream t-shirts, white formal shirts and black formal trousers. These items were chosen to reflect what people might wear in both a casual and formal settings. Comparable items We identified specific and comparable items of clothing across three of the four retailers (Morrisons do not sell clothing) and compared the prices for the women and men s baskets. As far as possible we identified products with similar product descriptions and materials. In most cases these were the cheapest items within the store s range. 8 These products were used to identify the difference in what men and women would pay on very similar purchases. 7 The Sainsbury s on New Cross Rd, London, SE14 5UQ 8 Plus-size, maternity, unisex and discounted items were excluded 4

6 Fig. 3 % Women Pay More - Select Items of Clothing Basket Tesco ASDA Sainsbury's Average 25% 20% 22% 15% 10% 12% 5% 7% 4% 0% Fig. 4 Women Pay More - Select Items of Clothing Basket Tesco ASDA Sainsbury's Average

7 We found that: The gender price gap was greatest at Sainsbury s where women pay 22% more for the women s clothing basket than men do. The gender price gap means women pay 7% more at Tesco. The gender price gap was lowest at Asda where women pay 4% more. However, Asda also had the product with the greatest gender price gap in percentage terms the cheapest pair of blue straight fit jeans was 100% more expensive for women than men ( 12 compared to 6.) Overall, women pay an average of 4.33 more for a basket of the selected items across all the stores * - indicates a negative price difference, i.e. men pay more Conducting these comparisons, it became clear that whilst women pay more overall there are specific items of clothing where the price for men is higher. Fawcett Calls For: Each of the four leading supermarkets to carry out a review of their pricing practices to investigate why products targeted at women consistently cost more and to publish the findings. An end to sexist pricing in our supermarkets. The Fawcett Society is calling for Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury s and Morrisons to agree that this practice has no place in their stores and to work with us to end sexist pricing. The development of more gender neutral options many retailers already offer gender neutral choices but the ranges could be developed and extended. Data Tables Table 1 % Women Pay More: Toiletries Own Brand Items Directly Comparable Items Across Retailers Tesco ASDA Sainsbury s Morrisons Average Triple Blade Disposable Razors 25% 7% 10% 82% 27% Shaving Cream 0% 13% 0% 22% 8% Deodorant 0% 0% 11% 0% 2% Body Spray 100% 100% 146% 114% 113% Average 24% 22% 25% 56% 31% 6

8 Table 2 Women Pay More Toiletries Own Brand Items Directly Comparable Items Across Retailers Tesco ASDA Sainsbury's Morrison s Average Triple Blade Disposable Razors Shaving Cream Deodorant Body Spray Total sexist price gap Table 3 Price differences for basket of comparable (i.e. cheapest, most basic) select items of clothing for women and men* Own Brand Clothing (Select Items) Tesco ASDA Sainsbury's Average % % % % Straight blue fit jeans 1 7% 6 100% % % Plain white T shirt % % % % Formal black trousers % % 6 60% % Formal white shirt 5 56% 0 0% 3 20% % Total sexist price gap % 1 4% % % - indicates a negative price difference, i.e. men pay more Morrisons does not sell clothing and is not included 7