Goods on display in a self-service shop: invitation to treat (Boots)

In Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd the Court of Appeal held that goods displayed with prices in a self-service shop are not an offer by the shopkeeper. The display invites customers to choose goods and bring them to the cashier. The customer then makes the offer to buy, and the contract is concluded only when the shopkeeper, or someone on its behalf, accepts that offer. One reason the court gave was that otherwise a customer who put an item in the basket could never put it back. Applying this, the shelf label was an invitation to treat. Imani's act of placing the drill in her basket did not accept anything. She made an offer at the till, and the cashier's refusal to sell at £19 was a rejection of that offer. No contract exists at £19.

Why A is wrong: Boots holds that placing goods in a basket is not acceptance; the customer remains free to put the item back.

Why C is wrong: A price label on goods in a shop is an invitation to treat, not a unilateral offer capable of acceptance by reading it.

Why D is wrong: Acceptance is the shop's agreement to the customer's offer; the cashier rejected the £19 offer, so there was no acceptance at that price.

Why E is wrong: Contract law imposes no obligation on a shop to sell at a displayed price; any pricing rules are regulatory, not a source of a contract.