Lower the price or find the culprit? Albania versus the Greek model: Is “PriceWatch” enough?

The Greek government has taken a relief measure for families facing high prices of basic products and more.

Starting from August 31, Greek citizens will benefit from around 1,600 food products, such as flour, milk and meat, but also daily use items, including detergents, shampoo, diapers and school supplies, with discounts ranging from 7% to 35%, depending on the product.

In parallel, consumers can identify and compare product prices through the "PosoKanei" platform, or "How much does it cost?".

The measure is the result of an agreement between the Greek government and a chain of stores and supermarkets to apply price reductions on a certain number of products.

Compared to Albania, it seems that Greece has not only chosen transparency and price monitoring through "PosoKanei", but has also accompanied this mechanism with a concrete intervention to ease the burden of prices on families.

But what is Albania doing compared to Greece?

The Albanian government is expected to launch a platform called "PriceWatch", which, according to it, will allow citizens to compare product prices, while also giving authorities the opportunity to identify links where abuses may occur.

In other words, the Albanian government initially aims to reflect and analyze market prices and, based on the data, identify cases where the price is considered unjustified.

So far, the Albanian government has not announced a direct relief measure for families in need or pensioners, which would accompany the establishment of the platform in parallel.

How does "PosoKanei" differ from the Albanian government's "PriceWatch"?

"PosoKanei" is conceived as an application and platform that enables consumers in Greece to see where products are sold cheapest and compare prices of thousands of products.

The data is updated daily, while the application also offers price history for each product, giving consumers the opportunity to understand whether a discount is real or whether an offer may only be temporary.

Users can also create personalized shopping lists and search for products within the same category, such as coffee or pasta, comparing them by price and availability across different supermarket chains.

The app also suggests lower-cost alternatives within the same category, helping consumers reduce the overall cost of their shopping cart.

When the same product is available in European retail chains, the platform may also display the corresponding prices outside Greece.

Meanwhile, according to the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Delina Ibrahimaj, businesses operating in wholesale and retail trade will report the prices of basic products to "PriceWatch" .

Through the new mechanism, the price formation chain will also be analyzed, from import or production to the supermarket shelf.

The goal, according to the government, is to identify the link where the price increase is created and to identify cases of abuse.

According to Ibrahimaj, state intervention will be determined only after analyzing the data. If the price increase is related to the costs of the entities, rents or employment costs, the intervention will focus on reducing them. If taxes are affected, the tax system will be reviewed, while in the case of very high profit margins, the minister has warned of measures to discourage them, especially for basic products of the basket.

But this is exactly where the question arises.

The Albanian government's initiative, at least according to what has been made public so far, begins with reflecting prices, continues with identifying the link where growth is created, and then foresees state intervention.

But what happens after PriceWatch shows where and in which link the price has increased?

Will publishing the differences be enough to encourage price reductions? Or will concrete measures, like those accompanying the Greek platform, be needed?

The Albanian government itself has not yet provided full details on the measures that can be taken once a case of abuse is identified.

At this point, the difference between the two models becomes important: PriceWatch aims to initially show where the problem is, while the Greek model is accompanying transparency with a concrete intervention on prices.

Ultimately, the challenge for PriceWatch will not just be to show the citizen where a product costs the least. The challenge will be whether the data collected by the platform will actually translate into lower prices on the shelf.