Walmart is rolling out digital shelf labels and expects it to be in all U.S. stores by year’s end. Is it surge pricing in disguise or just new tech efficiency?

Key Points

Walmart is rolling out digital shelf labels and expects the technology to be in all U.S. stores by year’s end. Kroger also has begun experimenting with the technology.

The nation’s largest retailer says the digital price tags help associates do their jobs better and stresses that prices on items will be exactly the same for every consumer in every store.

Some legislators are wary of the technology’s potential to be used in dynamic pricing models that disadvantage consumers, with Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introducing a bill to ban it.

  • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    14 days ago

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: People WILL CATCH if they do this. Let someone THINK it happened and thousands of people will start taking pics of the prices on the shelves and compare to prices on checkout.

    It is extremely unlikely that they would try it. But even if they did, it is extremely unlikely they would get away with it for more than a day or two.

    • Nate Cox@programming.devEnglish
      0·
      14 days ago

      I’m not sure why you think this is a conspiracy theory, it’s already documented as happening and is common in some segments. It’s not a secret.

      Uber led the way on this years and years ago, with systems that would offer every driver a unique price for each ride based on their recent history. If you took every ride that came up you would get lower prices, but if you started declining rides you would get an increased rate to bait you back in… until you bit and took one where it would decrease the rate again.

      Each driver being offered a different fare for the same customer is the kind of dynamic pricing that digital displays offer for grocery stores. Maybe at the busiest time of day prices are suddenly more expensive. Maybe when it’s hot outside cold drinks go up 20%. Maybe you don’t notice because you’re too busy thinking about all the other stress of daily life.