The government’s new online platform and app, “PosoKanei,” has gone live. An upgraded version of the price observatory and e-Katanalotis, it aims to give consumers a clearer picture of supermarket prices, both in Greece and in other European markets where data is available.
In its first version, the platform includes prices for 8,778 products, updated daily by major supermarket chains. The product codes mainly cover food, drinks and beverages, personal care and cleaning products, baby items and pet products, while private-label products are also included.
In April, 53% of Greeks — compared with an EU average of 36% — considered rising prices to be the country’s biggest problem.
The core function of “PosoKanei” is price comparison by product and by supermarket chain, along with the price per unit of measurement. Beyond static comparison, the app also shows price trends over a two-month period, a feature that may help identify potentially misleading promotions. It also includes a “Find me cheaper” function, which suggests lower-priced alternatives in the same product category, as well as a shopping-list feature that allows users to see the total cost of the products they have selected at the stores where they are available.
However, as *Kathimerini* notes, the platform increases transparency but does not, on its own, address the substance of the high-prices problem. The large price gaps between Greece and other countries confirm an issue that has repeatedly concerned the government, but for which no solution has yet been found: the pricing practices of multinationals, as well as geographic supply restrictions, which can make parallel imports more difficult and limit competition.
Source: Kathimerini, Eurobaromeyter
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