Grocery store prices are changing faster than ever before — literally. This month, Walmart became the latest retailer to announce it’s replacing the price stickers in its aisles with electronic shelf labels. The new labels allow employees to change prices as often as every ten seconds.

“If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream. If there’s something that’s close to the expiration date, we can lower the price — that’s the good news,” said Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    25
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    Yes, this is regularly seen throughout Europe for years.

    You can buy such tags in bulk from China, they are very cheap at any scale really (and their use isn’t limited to just pricing).

    But yes, I think some EU countries already have laws preventing price changes throughout the day or (to some extend) price differences between eg countryside and cities.
    I think there should be an EU directive for this tho.

    • Mad_Punda.de
      link
      fedilink
      176 months ago

      Also, because they are so cheap they just throw them out when the battery is empty instead of replacing the battery. It’s great for the environment! /s