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.
What I mean is that the displayed price and register are always in sync.
Realistically, I feel like it would mean that they can only change prices during shutdown hours (or perhaps VALID UNTIL prices for changing mid-day). Changing displayed prices manually each night is too much labour to be worth it, but with digital labels, it could be done.
More dystopian, I’m sure at some point Walmart will be able to track each person to display a unique price when they are looking, and that displayed price can follow them to the register.