Trade network "Norfa", the managing company "Norfos mažmena" failed to prove in court that the data of the secret buyer and the market research agency "SeeNext" that its basket of goods was the most expensive on the market in January 2021 were incorrect.
Last week, the Vilnius District Court rejected Norfa's complaint and left unchanged the January decision of the Vilnius City District Court.
"The court of first instance basically made a legal and reasonable decision, which there is no reason to change or annul according to the arguments of the appeal," the court ruling reads.
"Norfos mažmena" asked to state that the information published publicly in January 2021 that the most expensive basket of goods in January was in "Norfos" is incorrect and damages the company's reputation, therefore it sought to oblige SeeNext to deny the information.
Norfa explained that the cheapest products were not chosen for the SeeNext study, that the company manipulates the research methodology and influences the opinions and choices of consumers. The company argued that the reader of the portals may refuse to shop at "Norfa" under the influence of a false belief that it has the most expensive products.
At the time, SeeNext said the posted cart prices were not a mistake, they were based on receipts. According to the agency, the research aims to determine which retail chain has the lowest basket price, and according to the research methodology, the cheapest "Norfos" products were not evaluated, but products more similar to other chains.
The trial court had accepted that SeeNext's claims were true because its methodology applied to all retail chains in the same way.
The Vilnius District Court stated that despite some of the shortcomings of the investigation noted by the court, there is no reason to state that SeeNext's statements were incorrect.
