The price gouging test results of supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles by the consumer watchdog are in and the news is good for the new CEOs of these companies. And it’s less likely the Albanese Government will have enough ammunition to gun these retailers down during the election campaign.

However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation has uncovered aspects of the supermarket’s behaviour that needs to change to be better corporate citizens and better operators for consumers and their suppliers.

Here's a summary of the findings:

1. Because of a lack of competition, the two big supermarkets don’t compete hard on prices.
2. Both have increased their earnings margin in recent years, with Woolworths the biggest gainer.
3. They weren’t called price gougers charging excessive prices!
4. We have less competition in the sector compared to overseas.
5. While there is price discounting on individual products, the ACCC reported: "We have not observed Coles and Woolworths seeking to substantially discount prices below each other in aggregate."
6. Claims that they have real competition from the likes of Bunnings and Amazon were seen as laughable — my words not the ACCC.
7. While Aldi is seen as a rival on prices, Metcash’s IGA isn’t.
8. While the costs of doing business have increased, the supermarkets have maintained their margins.
9. The margins on branded products were higher compared to home brands.
10. Woolworths is making bigger margins on their smaller-format Metro stores, while this wasn’t the case with Coles smaller stores.
11. Suppliers are given a tough time, especially fresh food suppliers.
12. Coles and Woolworths act so similarly with suppliers, it’s like suppliers are dealing with the same buyer. In economics, this is called a monopsony situation, which isn’t good news for suppliers.
13. Some suppliers reported fear of retribution if they raised concerns about the behaviour of the supermarkets.

As a consequence of the report, the ACCC recommended the following:

1. It wants pricing data made public.
2. More checking of discounting claims.
3. Reviews of loyalty programs.
4. Greater ACCC oversight on rebates to suppliers.
5. More support for community supermarkets such as co-ops.

The lack of price gouging accusations and the ACCC not finding that the supermarkets buy land to stop rivals coming to town were good news revelations for Amanda Bardwell, CEO of Woolworths, and Coles’ CEO Leah Weckert, who were appointed fairly recently.

While this report isn’t telling us much more than we already knew, the supermarkets and their shareholders will be happy that the headlines this morning aren’t claiming Woolworths and Coles are

price gougers.

Since the Albanese Government went gunning for the big supermarkets, Woolworths share price is down 23%. While Coles’ share price is down 3.44% over the same time period, it was down a lot more before the public opinion about Woolworths and its sales fell.

Stock market wise, this whole price gouging affair has been a lot worse for Woolworths than Coles.