An advert from online department store Debenhams advertising ‘up to 60% off’ has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for misleading customers.

The paid-for Facebook ad for the retailer, which is owned by Boohoo Group, contained a caption which read ‘Step into spring with up to 60% off fashion, home and beauty at Debenhams’.

It was accompanied by a carousel of various product images, shown alongside further text stating ‘up to 60% off’ and a ‘shop now’ link.

The ASA received a complaint about the advert, which was seen in March of this year, highlighting the fact that not all products featured were available at the advertised discounted price. The complainant challenged whether the ‘up to 60% off’ claim was misleading and could be substantiated.

Considering the advert in its entirety, the ASA said consumers would understand the ad to mean that the products featured were included in the promotion, and would therefore be discounted by an amount up to and including 60%.

Subscribe to Marketing Beat for FREE

Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning

In its defense, Debenhams said it could not control whether third-party suppliers decided to take part in a sales promotion, and which products they chose to include if they did. The online retailer also said that, because the products shown were from third-party suppliers, it was unable to check the relevant pricing history.

While this meant the ASA could not determine the usual selling price of the products featured, it did note that in the imagery shown, only one appeared to have a promotional price applied; demonstrated by a crossed-out reference price, lower promotional price, and text reading ‘Save 60%’.

The other two product listings showed no indication of having been reduced in price.

Because the ASA did not see any evidence that those products were available at the advertised promotional discount, it considered the claim running alongside those product images to be misleading.

The lack of sales data also meant that the ASA had no evidence that the product which had been reduced had actually been on sale at the higher price and Debenhams had not shown that the claim represented a genuine saving.

In banning the advert, the ASA told the retailer it must not appear again in its current form, future savings claims must not mislead and should be fully substantiated against the usual selling price of the products.

Debenhams said its internal processes have been revised to ensure future compliance with the CAP Code.