SAN DIEGO — A new San Diego law requires grocery stores to extend digital discounts to all customers — even those who lack smartphones or access to the internet.

The City Council voted 8-0 in favor of the new law this week, despite strong objections from the California Grocers Association and a local grocery chain. The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce also raised concerns.

Supporters of the new law, called the Grocery Pricing Transparency Ordinance, say San Diego is the first city in the U.S. to approve such legislation.

But the law is similar to legislation approved by four states: New Jersey, Washington, Illinois and Massachusetts.

The goal of the law is helping seniors, people who aren’t tech-savvy and shoppers who speak limited English get access to the same discounts as everyone else, city officials said.

“San Diegans are doing everything they can to stretch their dollars, but corporate grocery chains are turning basic shopping into a rigged game,” said Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera. “This ordinance is a common-sense step to fight back against corporate tricks and stand up for working people and families who are being squeezed at the checkout line.”

Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who co-sponsored the legislation with Elo-Rivera, said the goals are helping seniors and boosting equity.

“Many senior citizens are living on fixed incomes and are feeling the financial strain of the increasing cost of living,” she said. “They have to watch someone else get a discount they can’t have.”

Council President Joe LaCava said the law will also help people who avoid digital coupons because they don’t want to share with grocery chains all the personal information they would need to be eligible to use such coupons.

Older San Diegans are particularly vulnerable to digital coupons because they may be less tech-savvy and are most likely to be on fixed incomes where grocery coupons can make a big difference.

Supporters said digital-only coupons have always been unfair, but the need to rein them in with a law has grown more urgent as grocery prices have sharply risen since the pandemic began.

“It is critical to ensuring seniors have enough dollars to keep from falling over the edge and possibly ending up on the street,” said Paul Downey of the nonprofit Serving Seniors.

But the state grocers association said San Diego’s legislation is worded too broadly and could put all coupons, including printed ones, at risk.

“The ordinance would more likely reduce, even possibly eliminate, coupon use at San Diego stores, instead of expanding access,” said Tim James, the group’s director of local government and enterprise risk. “This is a scenario that nobody would want.”

Stater Bros., a local grocery chain, lobbied for a delay.

“We are asking the City Council to delay the law’s passage until we have had an opportunity to examine and understand how such a change would affect our customers, our partners, and our business,” said Nancy Negrette, the supermarket’s vice president of corporate affairs.

The chamber of commerce said a delay could make sense because some grocers say they just found out about the law and haven’t had a chance to discuss it with city officials.

“When affected businesses are not included in these important conversations, well-meaning policies have the potential to have unforeseen negative impacts to our local economy,” said the chamber’s Justine Murray.

Elo-Rivera and von Wilpert stressed that the new law was first proposed last fall, but they also agreed before Monday’s vote to delay implementation by two months.

Instead of taking effect 30 days after a second council approval next month, the law will take effect 90 days after that second approval.

In addition to requiring stores to extend digital-only deals to everyone, the law will force them to place a sign explaining the new rule in a conspicuous location.

The sign would read: “Fair Pricing for All: Your Right to Equal Discounts — Under San Diego law, approved by City Council, all digital discounts must also be available as printed coupons or clearly readable marked prices. Violations of this law are subject to San Diego Municipal Code section 311.0104.”

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