SHOPPERS across the country are concerned about digital price tags as several retail giants recently confirmed their rollout across thousands of stores.
Walmart, Hy-Vee and Aldi have committed to abandoning paper labels for merchandise.
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Retailers cited significant improvements in the customer shopping experience and greater employee productivity and efficiency as reasons for updating prices.
In June, Walmart decided to take the digital pricing movement forward on a massive level.
The company had previously tested the electronic tags at a store in Texas for some time and found them to be a big hit with employees and customers.
This led to a commitment to bring the labels to at least 1,400 stores by the end of 2024.
Walmart also said it would increase that number to at least 2,300 additional locations with the tags by 2026.
The company currently operates 4,609 locations across the United States.
Daniela Boscan, food and consumables team leader at the Texas Walmart store where the labels were tested, praised digital shelf labels (DSLs) for their positive impact on employees.
Labels save employees considerable time swapping out paper labels for new ones when prices change or merchandise is updated.
“Working with DSLs has transformed my daily routine,” she said in a Press release.
“A price change that used to take a member two days to update now takes just a few minutes with the new DSL system.”
HY-VEE JOINS
Other grocery chains like Hy-Vee and Aldi have found similar benefits to digital tags, as has Walmart.
Hy-Vee confirmed on a Wednesday announcement which would test the tags in 230 stores this year.
Similar to Walmart tags, they are equipped with flashing light capabilities for promotions and a streamlined system to improve accuracy and efficient replenishment.
Tags are provided by retail technology company VusionGroup.
Walmart Digital Tags
Walmart issued the following statement to The US Sun regarding digital tags.
“Walmart’s pricing strategy and business model continues to be Everyday Low Prices (EDLP).”
“Our new digital shelf labels (DSLs) are a technology tool to communicate these prices in stores and to streamline associate tasks, including price updates, stocking shelves and selecting products for online ordering.
“Digital shelf labels improve our employee productivity by simplifying tasks, and this allows employees more time to support customers.
“Customers will experience the benefit of increased support and customer service.
“Walmart continues to be a people-led, technology-driven omnichannel retailer, and we are excited to enhance customer and associate experiences with new technology and productivity tools in our stores.”
Although Aldi has never made a significant announcement about the launch of digital tags, shoppers have seen them in select stores for years, so The grocer.
LACK OF CONFIDENCE
While the digital price tag movement continues, shoppers have noted serious concerns, including the potential for price increases given how quickly and quietly labels can be changed at any time.
“They will raise the price after you take it away,” one customer recently wrote on a publish for X.
Others claimed that retailers were “robbing customers every minute” in a way wire on Facebook.
“Ummm, you mean it’s easier to fool people,” said another person.
EXEC’S PROMISE
Despite the backlash, Walmart’s senior vice president of transformation and innovation, Greg Cathey, promised shoppers that sudden price changes would not happen.
“Absolutely not one hour this price will be that, the next hour it won’t be,” he said during a recent Walmart shareholder meeting.
Still, Walmart and Aldi customers have claimed they have been overcharged for merchandise recently.
A buyer claimed this month that Walmart charged double the listed price for an item and cited its weight to justify it.
An Aldi customer also claimed they were charged at least $69 more for an item they “didn’t buy”.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
