Shoprite has clarified a viral noodles ‘sale’ tweet that got shoppers confused and some furious this week.
This comes after user @Ntsikier posted a photo on the platform of Roka instant noodles priced at R2 each and at R9 for three packets.
“Shoprite is trying to scam people neh,” wrote @Ntsikier in the caption.
Shoprite is trying to scam people neh 🙆🏽♂️ pic.twitter.com/1nGFVkA2gh
— Ntsiki ER (@Ntsikier) April 27, 2022
The post confused a lot of people. Some people agreed with the tweep, that indeed Shoprite is trying to scam shoppers, while others put on their mathematics skills to try and find a reasonable conclusion to the pricing.
“People don’t like doing maths. They see a big sign & they take it. Always confirm if the maths behind the bargain makes sense. I do the same with other things. If I want 1KG, I check the price of 4 x 250g or 2x 500g and see if the price is cheaper than the 1Kg, wrote one user.
A second user wrote: “It really is because let’s say you were just going to buy 1 or 2, now you are going to buy 5 because you think you finessed them Gante they finessed you.” While a third asked: “Shouldn’t it be 3 for R6?”
When IOL Lifestyle reached out to the supermarket for comment, they sent an official statement stating that it was a result of human error.
“We sincerely apologise for the error. A multi-buy offer should always be a good deal for the consumer, and we invite our customers to please immediately engage with us if that is not the case.
“The incorrect pricing on the product depicted was a direct result of human error. Errors of this kind creep in from time to time when changes are applied manually at the store level to accommodate promotional deals at short notice.
“We invite all our customers to engage store management immediately when pricing anomalies are spotted so that urgent action can be taken to rectify any possible oversight.
“The business continuously works to improve our systems and processes and on enforcing disciplines across the merchandising system and in-store.”