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.
How would that even work with a shelf edge label? They’re not instant, most take like 20 seconds to redraw the screen. They’re also not smart at all.
If they wanted pricing per customer, they’d have a generic price on the shelf, and make you scan on an app/handheld scanner for “offers”, and everyone gets a different discount.