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Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd.

Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd. [[Case citation|[1953] 1 Q.B. 401; [1953] 1 All E.R. 482]] is a famous English contract law decision on the nature of an offer. The Court distinguished the display of a product in a store with a price attached is not sufficient to be considered an offer, but rather is an invitation to treat.

Background

The case revolved around the Boots Cash Chemists store that sold drugs which the customer chose and put in a basket rather than asking a qualified pharmacist. Boots was one of the first stores operating for this now common self-service system, which was becoming popular around the time. When a customer entered the store he or she was given a basket and could pick items off the shelves as they wished and place them in the basket. The customer would then take it to the cash desk next to which a registered pharmacist would sit.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, a society representing the pharmacist profession, took issue with this new practice and brought an action against Boots Cash Chemist as a test case to enforce the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 which made it illegal to sell a listed "poison" without supervision of a registered pharmacist. The Pharmaceutical Society argued that the display of goods was an offer to sell which was accepted by the customer upon placing the drugs in the basket, at which moment the contract of sale was formed. As a result, the Society argued, the provisions of the Act prohibiting the sale of "poison" without supervision were breached.

Opinion of the Court

Both the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal sided with Boots. They held that the display of goods was not an offer. Rather, by placing the goods into the basket, it was the customer that made the offer to buy the goods. This offer could be either accepted or rejected by the pharmacist at the cash desk.

In the case of an ordinary shop, although goods are displayed and it is intended that customers should go ahead and choose what they want, the contract is not completed until, the customer having indicated the articles which he needs, the shopkeeper, or someone on his behalf, accepts that offer. Then the contract is completed.

The moment of the completion of contract was at the cash desk, in the presence of the supervising pharmacist. Therefore, there was no violation of the Act.