Fears of price hike at Walmart after customers notice changes to electronic labels – and customers say tampering is ‘too easy’

Consumers have expressed concern about price gouging as the retailer introduces new electronic price tags.

Customers said Walmart’s new labels were just another way for retailers to rip off consumers.

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“You are on the side of the faceless greed robot who just put electronic price tags on water bottles so he can drive up prices during heatwaves,” tweeted one consumer.

“Call it a conspiracy theory if you want – I actually believe that they will use these apps to manipulate prices in the long run,” echoed another shopper.

“They track what you usually buy and the electronic price tags adjust their prices accordingly as you pass by, so you pay more for your usual purchase,” they added.

The retailer announced the change in a statement in June.

Walmart hopes that the digital price tags will allow employees to update shelves using a mobile app, eliminating the need to walk around the store as often to replace the paper tags by hand.

“Walmart stores have over 120,000 products on the shelves, each with a unique price tag,” their press release states. “Every week, our stores make thousands of price updates for new items, price drops and markdowns.”

The retailer said the digital shelf labels would give retail staff more time to serve customers in the store.

According to the press release, the electronic price tags have already helped increase productivity, shorten travel times, simplify replenishment and speed up order picking and processing.

Shoppers said they were still concerned about how easily retailers could manipulate prices.

Some buyers wondered whether the price changes could ultimately lead to an analysis of spending behavior.

For example, if the retailer’s application knows that a consumer always buys snacks, those products suddenly become more expensive.

Conversely, these products would be offered at a lower price if the same consumer stopped buying his or her usual treats.

In light of concerns about price gouging, a former retail worker shared his thoughts on the new electronic price tags.

“As a former retail employee, I was hoping to be able to replicate what Kohl’s does elsewhere,” they tweeted. “It would have saved many hours of weekly re-labeling and reduced errors.”

You are on the side of the faceless greed robot that has just attached electronic price tags to water bottles so that it can drive up prices during heatwaves

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The move to digital shelf labels represents a game-changer for retailers and many others.

Walmart claims that the new price tags not only improve efficiency and customer satisfaction, but also incorporate sustainability.

Walmart said the new price tags helped reduce operational waste.

And the retailer shows no signs of giving in.

“We are excited about the positive impact this innovation will have on our operations and the environment,” they said.

Walmart plans to continue digitizing its stores and expand digital shelf labels to 2,300 stores by 2026.

Meanwhile, a Walmart customer was outraged by the limitation on the number of self-checkouts in the store and the behavior of the staff.

And Ikea’s $12 Halloween decorations are selling like hotcakes—they’re identical to Walmart’s but $5 cheaper.