By Barney Jopson in New York

JC Penney announced an end to unpredictable discounts and a new strategy of permanently lower prices under Ron Johnson, its new head and a former Apple executive, who criticised retailers for creating a blizzard of special offers that has confused shoppers.

In a much-anticipated presentation, Mr Johnson, who led Apple?s retail business for 11 years, said he would scrap the hundreds of sales that JC Penney has offered every year and replace them with three simple, predictable price tiers.

The highest tier would be 30 to 50 per cent below current prices, equating roughly to what JC Penney had traditionally used as its first discount price, said Michael Francis, the group?s president.

The change comes as part of Mr Johnson?s plan to transform JC Penney, a department store that he said had become ?tired?. He also unveiled a new marketing strategy and gave a glimpse of how store fixtures and design would be overhauled.

JC Penney?s sales were worse than its main rivals, Macy?s and Kohl?s, in the holiday season and previous quarters, but its shares have outperformed the market since Mr Johnson joined the board in August.

In a presentation laced with references to lessons from his time at Apple, which does not discount its products, Mr Johnson said JC Penney?s pricing had ?no integrity?. It had done 590 promotions last year and customers had ignored them ?99 per cent of the time?.

Instead, from February, JC Penney will introduce ?fair and square? pricing with three tiers: ?everyday? price; deeper discounts on items relevant to the current season; and the lowest prices on clearance items on the first and third Friday of each month.

A woman?s T-shirt that last year had an official retail price of $14 had sold for an average price of $6, Mr Johnson said. From next month it would be sold for $7, reduced to $5 when people needed T-shirts in warmer weather, and marked down for clearance to $4.

He said the array of discounts, coupons, loyalty programmes and other deals offered by retailers had eroded consumers? trust in them, equating it with a similar lack of confidence in Wall Street and in the political class in Washington.

?There?s a fundamental fairness and integrity issue going on. Customers are rejecting us because of that,? he said.

But some analysts say ?treasure-hunting? consumers, who have become accustomed to the thrill of finding bargains, may not take to more stable pricing.

? The Financial Times Limited 2012