Co-op sold products on Deliveroo with prices reduced by up to 100% on the app due to a technical glitch that affected the company on Thursday evening.
Customers reported that they were able to purchase a range of discounted products for free for a few hours, including Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce jars, Costa ground coffee and Fox’s biscuits.
Other products also saw heavy discounts, with several customers telling the BBC they were able to buy Robinson drinks for 15 pence a bottle, down from £1.50.
“Got myself a lot of cheap bits from the Co-op,” wrote one customer on X.
Another customer said: “15p Robinsons squash will do well with the heat wave.”
Instagram users also commented on the opportunity to purchase Airwick Reed diffusers for £5.45 less than the normal price.
A spokesperson for the Co-op told the BBC that the low prices were the result of a critical error that led to a limited number of prices being displayed incorrectly on the Deliveroo store for a few hours.
“This was quickly resolved, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson added.
A Deliveroo spokesperson also confirmed the pricing error to the broadcaster.
“Yesterday we experienced a brief temporary issue involving items in a promotional campaign with one partner being priced incorrectly,” they said.
According to Citizen’s Advice, the consequences of buying an item online at a discounted price due to a pricing error depend on the terms and conditions of the shop, which may only guarantee the consumer’s legal rights after they have placed their order or received the goods.
“I was surprised the Co-op and Deliveroo honoured and delivered the mispriced items,” a Co-op customer told the BBC.
Although there is no evidence indicating that the malfunction is related to a cyber incident, it came just days after Co-op was hit by an attempted hack of its systems.
The incident took place as fellow British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) continued to deal with the fallout from a cyberattack that has caused the company chaos for several weeks.
According to The Guardian, Co-op told staff in a letter that Co-op had “pre-emptively withdrawn access to some systems for the moment” to keep them safe.
The report said that the company had closed down several business services for staff operating stores and its legal services division, while the stock monitoring system is also thought to be impacted.
A source told the newspaper that some staff were unable to work from home after Co-op blocked remote access across several systems.
British retailer Marks & Spencer recently said it instructed approximately 200 agency staff at its Castle Donington distribution centre in central England to stay home on Monday as it continues to grapple with the consequences of the cyber incident that began at the end of April.
Last Thursday, Harrods also announced it was hit by a cyber-attack and restricted access to its websites in response to the incident.
