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Biedronka, one of Poland’s biggest supermarket chains, could face a fine for an anti-inflation promotion that the consumer watchdog claims were misleading. UOKiK reported the amount could amount to as much as 10% of their annual revenue.

As part of the promotion, which ran from April to June, customers were encouraged to compare prices and receive a refund if any 150 products were cheaper elsewhere. However, UOKiK noted that the rules were complex, and customers couldn’t use their coupons immediately after receipt.

UOKiK fines Biedronka

Biedronka, owned by Jeronimo Martins Polska, is facing a fine from Poland’s competition protection authority for its anti-inflation promotion. The store is running a campaign guaranteeing certain items at their current prices until JUOKiK believes this needs to be revised and is investigating whether the campaign infringes upon consumer rights.

UOKiK’s president claims Biedronka’s offer was deceptive. The company failed to include the “service maintenance” fee in the prices of their offers, causing confusion when consumers sought out the most profitable option. Furthermore, the porno website needed to inform customers about its costs and features.

In response to these allegations, UOKiK president Vlado Smolinski imposes fines on businesses that fail to uphold their statutory obligations. These sanctions serve as punishment for breaking the law and deter others from repeating similar offenses in the future.

UOKiK has recently been actively engaged in consumer protection and e-commerce due to changes to legislation that aim to safeguard online consumers’ interests. E-commerce businesses must ensure that website promotional prices are presented efficiently and transparently without using clauses that could distort consumer choice.

They must also ensure that other users’ opinions on their websites are reliable. These actions are part of UOKiK’s evolving activity, which strives to provide that online stores present content truthfully and honestly.

At UOKiK’s investigations, the economics department provides a second set of eyes. They prepare analyses and research the state of markets that may be vulnerable to distortion due to competition.

Mr. Wojciech Szymczak, Ph.D., supervises this unit responsible for competition and consumer protection matters at UOKiK. It boasts a significant workforce with an annual budget of 101 million zlotys and 591 employees.

Biedronka says it will appeal

Tomasz Christy, president of the Polish antimonopoly office, has issued a fine to Jeronimo Martins Polska for failing to display prices accurately on some goods in Biedronka stores. Consumer complaints revealed that some goods did not match what was on display or didn’t indicate their respective costs compared to other supermarkets.

UOKiK also asserted that consumers were being charged more at the checkout for identical goods than those available on the shelf, which they claimed violated the law. UOKiK also discovered that their campaign, which ran from April to June, may have misled consumers. It noted that regulations made claiming a refund much more complex than what the ads might suggest.

“Biedronka is deeply disappointed,” the company stated in a statement. It plans to appeal the ruling and appeal the court’s decision. The company asserted the fine was discriminatory and excessive, indicating a lack of goodwill in UOKiK’s case handling.

Biedronka recently unveiled 50 Private Brand products and introduced a personalized app that enabled users to find the best offers and campaigns, view their purchase history, and check the prices of products on sale in-store.

It was part of an anti-inflation promotion, which offered customers who purchased certain essential goods a refund if they found them cheaper elsewhere. But, unfortunately, UOKiK discovered that customers couldn’t take advantage of this offer due to rules requiring them to buy both from Biedronka and another shop within one week of each other.

However, Biedronka has saved Polish families over PLN 17 billion since 2017, as the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection reported. This success can be attributed to advertising campaigns within their chain which guaranteed price protection on essential items until June 2020.

Biedronka says it has complied with the law

On April 12th, UOKiK launched a campaign to guarantee prices would increase on June 30th and offered refunds if consumers found cheaper products. Unfortunately, the rules made receiving a refund more challenging than what the company’s marketing might have led customers to believe, according to UOKiK.

Biedronka’s suppliers – particularly those of fruit and vegetables – only know the discount amount after deliveries have already been made. Therefore, these suppliers cannot estimate how much a customer might save, potentially missing out on potential sales opportunities.

A spokesperson for the chain told Datezone they were working on a solution to address regulator concerns. Furthermore, they mentioned they were in talks with suppliers to simplify the process.

In Poland, Sunday trading is strictly forbidden by a national-conservative government led by Law and Justice (PiS). Unfortunately, some stores exploit loopholes in the law to open on Sundays and sell goods. This week Family Minister Magdalena Malag announced a roundtable to remind stores of their obligations to adhere to these restrictions.

This policy has led to workers’ protests across Poland as workers seek higher wages, benefits, and rights. The ruling party PiS has promised an increase in the minimum wage by 90% – up to 4,000 zlotys (EUR 930 or $1,050) per month.

A recent survey of employees from six of Poland’s major retail chains – Auchan, Carrefour, Makro Cash&Carry, Real, Tesco, and Biedronka – revealed weak employment relations. Nearly half of the employees interviewed believed there was no trust between them and their employers. At the same time, only 40% felt they had a stable relationship with them.

Biedronka says it is working on a solution

According to the regulator, Biedronka’s campaign was intended to recoup some costs associated with its prices rising faster than suppliers’. Furthermore, it violated laws against selling goods in stores not open to the public.

According to the regulator, Biedronka had to pay a fine of almost 30 billion zlotych (EUR12.3 million). These penalties stem from an investigation that began in July.

According to Pawe Niechcial, a representative for UOKiK, one primary reason for the fines was that Biedronka failed to inform its suppliers of how much money it was saving them. Doing this would have ensured that suppliers knew their discounts were being given for good value rather than simply because of an overly optimistic marketing approach.

However, Biedronka has come under fire from many critics. One prominent voice is Poland’s leading wine website Winicjatywa, which has consistently questioned the quality of some of Biedronka’s high-end items.

For instance, it has been claimed that some of the wines in this range taste virtually identical from bottle to bottle. Furthermore, the promotion was claimed to be an error since it must be thoroughly tested before going live.

In an interview with Reuters, Biedronka spokesperson Wiadomosci Handlowe indicated the company is actively searching for a solution. In the meantime, he said, they plan to move into The Warsaw HUB complex, which is being constructed in the Wola district of Warsaw.

Bruce discusses the growing trend of the implementation of “self checkout” lines at retail stores, debates their merit from both a consumer and retailer perspective, and wonders whether they are really worth the cost savings they are designed to initiate. Plus, he discusses the “business” of lottery tickets, the trend of kids getting re-vaccinated for diseases that had been thought to be cured, and the problems that many athletes seem to have managing money.
Apr28

Don’t get lost in the fog of brand…Essentially what happens is that they tend to hire people who know nothing about your product, nothing about your service, who come in and they give it an artsy look or they design something. That’s not the brand. Brand is the experience the customer has with your product and with the service that goes around that product. That’s brand…You do need ad agencies and you need these kinds of people but don’t delude yourself into thinking that they’re going to create your brand. They’re going to create cosmetics..but that’s not the brand.

— Regis McKenna, Founder, Regis McKenna Inc.

From the boycotting of sponsors after Rush Limbaugh’s recent controversial comments to staying away from the Miami Marlins baseball games after manager Ozzie Guillen praised Fidel Castro, consumer boycotts have made headlines as of late, as folks are “voting with their feet” in order to make a point. But do they work? Bruce discusses the consumer boycott phenomenon among other topics, including the cruise ship experience, the conservative mindset, and the importance of breaking through your psychological and geographic comfort zone when it comes to selling your good or service.

When you think about a service business that is largely a personal interaction, it’s a much more difficult business. Fortunately what we have done is we’ve now created kind of a self service world with the internet where much of the infrastructure allows you to do your own search, to do your own sourcing, to do your own servicing on products. You go to help desks and so forth, so there’s this constant touching of databases. But Ed Levit said that, “A service is something you don’t know what you don’t get until you don’t get it.” When you order a computer you got something tangible in front of you and if it doesn’t work you know it doesn’t work, but you don’t know why it doesn’t work…So once you start questioning about, “Do I fix it? Does somebody else fix it? Who’s supposed to be responsible for seeing that this product has the right software on it? Or does the software itself heal itself?” All of those kinds of questions become intangible, so we haven’t really learned how to work in a service world. More and more of our, quite frankly, businesses are service related businesses because the components themselves are all readily available to put together, but it’s this ability to service, develop, interact and use software that connects everything and allows it to be adjusted to a specific circumstance, it’s really much more of a service world.

— Regis McKenna, Founder, Regis McKenna Inc.

Of all the startups that Ron accumulated throughout his career, which was the most important to him? As he has said many times, it would be his family, his wife, Karen, his son Jaxon and his daughter, Lexi. Today, on the final broadcast of American Entrepreneur Radio, we revisit the first shows after the births of Jaxon and Lexi, where we can hear the real thoughts of a successful entrepreneur facing his biggest challenge yet: being a worthy father to his children. Finally, we end it where it all began, with a rebroadcast of his very first show, originally airing June 20, 1999. Plus, members of the American Entrepreneur Radio staff, as well as a surprise guest at the end of the show, share their thoughts about the end of American Entrepreneur Radio.

What Lies Ahead For Business and the Economy

American Entrepreneur Radio host Mark Laskow anchors the final live episode of the radio program, as he talks with three business leaders and good friends of the program, Bob Boyle of JA Sauer Heating and Cooling Company, Lou Stanasolovich of Legend Financial Advisors, and Ken Komoroski of Fulbright and Jaworski, about what lies ahead for business, the economy, and the economic development that is the Marcellus Shale.

A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Ron Morris

American Entrepreneur staff members Brian McMahon, Andrew Rossi, Darryl Grandy and others join host Mike Kauffelt and show callers and listeners in celebrating the life and legacy of the late Ron Morris. They share stories and the lessons they learned from their experiences in working with, learning from, and listening to The American Entrepreneur and Ron Morris.

‘Best Of’ The American Entrepreneur Featuring Jim Rudolph, Robert Rosenberg and Varol Ablak

Ron Morris talks with Jim Rudolph, CEO of Rita’s Italian Ice, and former Franchise developer of the Wendy’s franchise within Western Pennsylvania.

Also, we talk with Robert Rosenberg, the longtime CEO of Dunkin Donuts, and the man who transformed the iconic brand from a family-run local dining establishment to the global powerhouse franchise it is today.

And finally, Ron talks with Varol Ablak, the CEO of Vocelli Pizza, about the remarkable family story of Vocelli Pizza, and the tactics that Varol employs to this day to expand the company’s footprint, and to ensure that the Vocelli name is on the forefront of the minds of the consumer who faces a glut of choices when it comes time to order out.

In March of 1999, Chris Posti (Posti & Associates), a former host on 1360AM radio and a friend of Ron’s, interviewed him on the topic of being an entrepreneur. Immediately afterwards, Ron remarked to me “I want to do that. I’d like my own show.” Three months later, he had his own show on 1360AM.

The American Entrepreneur radio show remained on the air for 13 years and eventually became a 7-day-a-week show, crossing over simultaneously to FM radio in its last year – virtually unheard of in the local radio industry.

I had been looking for a recording of the original show for years, but with no success. Then, while cleaning out some boxes in our garage this past Fall, I came across a single cassette tape, sans a case, simply labeled “Ron’s Radio Debut.” And … there it was —- the Rosetta Stone!

Many thanks to Chris Posti for interviewing Ron some 16 years ago this month and for agreeing to share this 27-minute recording of her show (and a nod also goes out to “Ace” … Ron’s very first-ever caller). As a result of this one interview, Ron launched a program that would become a “port in the storm” (credit to Paul Crawley of The Net Return) for many entrepreneurs.

Enjoy the show,
Karen, Jaxon & Lexi