As digital price tags have gained prominence over the last few years, some shoppers and legislators have feared they would lead to “dynamic pricing,” charging customers different prices based on the timing of their purchase or, worse, their individual data.Walmart plans to roll out digital shelf labels to all its U.S. stores by the end of this year, according to CNBC. The small devices sit near each product on the shelf with all the information you’d expect on a paper price tag, such as the current price, previous price and price per unit. They also have a small light that employees can activate to flash when they are looking for a specific item.
At Walmart’s Associates Week and shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas last week, the company gave reporters about 15 minutes to ask Walmart U.S. chief operating officer Kieran Shanahan specifically about these concerns.
One reporter asked whether Walmart is using digital shelf labels to better position it to price certain SKUs differently in different places or different situations. “No,” Shanahan said. “We have a principle of everyday low price; we’ve had that since the company was started.”
“The things you just described, the [digital shelf label] has no bearing on any of that,” Shanahan added. “We don’t typically do the things you just described. Never is a long time, so I’m loath to say never, but we don’t do that as a policy. It’s not our approach, and we want to have consistent prices that build trust with customers.”
