A leading consumer advocate is calling on supermarket chains to make their “digital-only” promotions available to shoppers who cannot access them online.
According to a Supermarket News report, Edgar Dworsky, founder of Consumer World and a former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, stated that excluding those without online access ”“ overwhelmingly, the elderly and lower-income households ”“ creates a situation where those in most need of savings are prevented from being able to access those discounts.
“It”™s digital discrimination, and the most vulnerable people are being shut-out of these online discounts at the worst possible time given record high inflation,” said Dworsky. “Big supermarkets need to provide an offline alternative to the digitally disconnected so they can reap the same savings that connected shoppers enjoy.”
Dworsky cited 2021 data from the Pew Research Center that found 39% of consumers ages 65 and older do not own a smartphone and 25% don”™t use the Internet. And having online access did not necessarily mean the promotions could be enjoyed ”“ Consumer World conducted a survey of 950 shoppers and found that nearly one-third could not correctly explain how to obtain an advertised digital discount.
