Walmart Promises Digital Price Labels In Every Store By End Of Year

American retail behemoth Walmart is planning to roll out digital price tags to all stores by the end of the year to replace the old-school paper ones, according to CNBC. The move has sparked concerns about potential abuse for "dynamic pricing."

Dynamic pricing is when companies raise or lower prices in real-time in response to temporary conditions. A common example is Uber's "surge pricing." Imagine attending a concert or sporting event. After the event, Uber prices will be significantly higher - especially near the arena - due to the sudden demand for rides. While proponents could argue that this is simple supply & demand, companies like Uber have been accused of using data to personalize prices even further. One accusation was that having a low battery could mean a higher price because Uber knows you probably can't wait for demand to die down lest your phone die.

Walmart's foray into digital price tags has critics and privacy advocates worried that the company will also experiment with surge pricing in a similar fashion. While at this time it would be difficult for Walmart to individualize prices (due to the high volume of customers on an aisle at any given time), the company could at very least easily adjust prices based on a wide range of other local factors, from benign tactics like lowering a price to sell an item that may expire soon to more usurious scenarios like raising prices at certain times of day when people may have less options (such as the ready-to-eat meals during lunch time).

Multiple people speaking on behalf of Walmart stated that the change is purely about efficiency and promised that the system will not be used for any untoward price adjustments. They note advantages like ensuring consistent pricing, the ability to quickly adjust prices for a sale, and the time saved for employees that could be used toward other things such as helping customers or restocking shelves.

The article notes that Kroger is also experimenting with digital price tags, and that many states are considering laws to reign in dynamic pricing.