The Hungarian government’s mandatory action in shops has come into force, here are the first experiences

From 1 June, the Hungarian government made it compulsory for shops to offer special offers on certain basic products. The aim is to reduce inflation, but what are the first experiences?

Mandatory special offers

Under the Hungarian government’s new regulation, shops must offer 20 categories of basic foodstuffs at a minimum 10 percent discount for a week. György Vámos, secretary general of the National Trade Association (OKSZ), said the aim was to bring down inflation. The discount offer will be updated weekly and inspectors will check that everyone is complying with the new rules, napi.hu writes.

“Every discount is a burden for the retailer, as they give up part of their sales – and they are forced to do this in addition to the mandatory promotions in order to reverse the downward trend of the first quarter and to increase the volume of goods bought by the public in grocery stores.” said Mr Vámos.

Wave of discounts and huge competition

According to index.hu, Spar has big plans to offer not only 10 but up to 40 percent off, and will fix the prices of 300 products between 31 May and 31 July as part of the price freeze extra promotion. Spar also highlighted that they are offfering 700-900 special offers per store.

An important condition is that the information on the mandatory action must be displayed in a prominent place and be available online.

CBA’s communications director, Attila Fodor, said that inflation and price rises on the world market have made consumers sensitive to prices.

Tesco has indicated that it will continue its price guarantee scheme, which has been running for a year now, keeping prices of 600 basic foodstuffs low. In addition, customers with the company’s Clubcard can enjoy discounts of up to 50 percent.

Lidl Hungary is also taking part in the competition,. They are also planning more discounts as they are preparing for 20-50 percent promotions.

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