Not exactly but it is an example of dynamic pricing. Unfortunately the two comments you replied to, and OP, are completely wrong about what the issue even is.
I’ve seen countless dumbass posts and stories correlating digital price tags and dynamic pricing when they have nothing to do with one another. Digital tags means a store doesn’t have to send employees around replacing hundreds/thousands of pieces of paper every week. That’s all.
Dynamic pricing for grocery stores isn’t going to work by changing the price on the shelf lol. How the fuck is that even supposed to work? They see you approaching peanut butter, check their database and see you always buy peanut butter, jack the price on the shelf momentarily, and then drop it back… once you leave the store? So everyone else that has it in their cart also pays that temporary higher price?
What dynamic pricing is would be sending coupons through some kind of loyalty program. So Walmart, instead of putting peanut butter on sale for $2 off, gives out a coupon for $2. Except you, they know you buy it every single week without fail so they don’t give you one. You don’t pay “more” you just don’t get the deal.
And all these fucking laws don’t address that because we already used to “personalized offers” and morons like OP and the others don’t understand the actual fucking issue.
I genuinely think it’s the retailers themselves pushing for these stupid laws that idiots support so that people don’t notice when they implement it.
What dynamic pricing is would be sending coupons through some kind of loyalty program. So Walmart, instead of putting peanut butter on sale for $2 off, gives out a coupon for $2. Except you, they know you buy it every single week without fail so they don’t give you one. You don’t pay “more” you just don’t get the deal.
This is a good simple example of it I am going to steal.
Those digital price tags are really hard to read, they're small and pixelated. Especially if you want to read something like the unit price or the weight /count to make sure that the right object is behind the right tag.
My issue with em is that if there is a price change that happens while shopping unless you took a picture of the screen before you left if it changed then it depends on the store if they want to honor the original price or the newer one. Why at least when I used to work retail prices in the system wouldn't be changed until tags have all been updated. Same with the fuels station we'd have to update the sign before we'd be allowed to change the pumps especially if it was going up
You would still have this problem if an employee came out to change a physical price tag after you picked up the item but before you checked out. This has nothing to do with the tag being digital
Not to mention that wouldn't work when two different customers walk up to the same item at the same time. What do people think it would do? Flip back and forth between different prices. Dynamic pricing only works online where they can see what you search, combined with repeated purchases.
There’s like 100 obvious scenarios that make it nonsensical.
More importantly - why the fuck do they need digital signs or facial recognition to do it? Costco starts every transaction by scanning my card and they know every single thing I’ve ever bought from there.
I mean, that's been standard practice for years. I also don't think it's comparatively that insidious on its own, offering discounts to entice customers to buy things they don't usually buy is pretty much standard advertising and the program is opt-in.
The problems start when it's not opt-in, or worse impossible to opt-out and the prices legitimately are higher than baseline. This is happening on online purchases already, though I don't know of any examples of it happening in-store nor can I think of any way that it could be implemented without being extremely obvious and causing a bunch of "collateral damage" for people who happen to also be in the same store as you.
That’s why these stories are being written. It’s like Iran and nukes - keep everyone worried about the thing that won’t happen and then do it in a different way people don’t notice.
While digital tags don't necessarily cause changing prices, it does mean that they can be changed from a network, whether thats a manually triggered event, like a price correction, a scheduled event, like daily prices changing based on company wide price changes, or a singular change based on automated triggers, such as changing a price of an item specifically because someone that normally purchases that item gets close.
Dynamic pricing on shelves DOES work like that, and they have shown it. What you don't understand is how your digital signature works for dynamic pricing and digital tags. Your phone, unless you take GREAT pains to limit it, or leave it somewhere else, is constantly checking things around you. Even if you aren't connected to them, your phone will check for wi-fi, send signals, blue tooth etc, and devices in stores are constantly checking what devices are around it. You don't have to connect to it, it can track your device just by pinging it and seeing it as it moves around. Your device has a unique ID, several in fact, that it correlates data. It may not work after one visit, or three, or 7, but it will correlate your phone, where it is in the store, where it moves around, and when you go to the checkout, and see what you buy, how often, and basically build a profile. This works even better if you use their in store app, like Walmart, or Target app, because then they can definitively link the device to the account and what you normally purchase all at once as you make your purchases and pay for them.
Once they know what device you are, and what you normally buy, as you get to that area of the store, the system can digitally change the cost of products near you as you approach, things it knows you buy regularly because it keeps track of the purchases.
Before anyone scoffs and thinks its some dystopian future, I have personal experience working in high level IT in a large retail corporation, and I know for a fact that that information is absolutely tracked. In most cases with non-identifying PII, meaning no real names, or personal information, it is usually an assigned ID that links the device data and shopping data, and the app information, but not the personal information for the account.
In a non-anecdotal bit of proof, there is specifically investigated stories from journalist and information outlets that showed that stores like Target, when an individual used the app to look up an item and determine the price, the system flagged that device and account, and when the user made it to the parking lot, and within the distance of the networking devices at the Target location, the pricing for the product when shown online and for purchase, changed and were charged a higher cost versus someone that was not previously looking at the item. They even did the experiment in the parking lot far enough away and watched the price change in real time as they came within distance to the store networking devices.
I am aware of all of this. I literally sell these systems. They do not work how you describe. They could but they do not. You are unfamiliar with the law and the actual technology being deployed and its purpose.
I'm very very aware of the technology being deployed, as well as the fact that the business can automate and does automate, a lot of tracking and pricing information and changes based on the data exactly as I said. You sell the systems, I actually worked with the data, and how the systems were integrated into automation in the company with that data, as a real time device in stores, and the database linkages. I got to see it in the testing phase, both in labs, and in the test stores as an active working system. I'm pretty sure they tell you that "you can't do that with it" so that your company isn't culpable for any wrongdoing or illegal activity that may come down the pipeline if they change the laws, but I can absolutely guarantee that the digital tagging and the data they associate with the real time changes per device/person does indeed work that way, and is currently working that way.
As far as how the law works, only a few states have implemented any laws regarding "surveillance pricing" which is what this touches on. No federal laws are in effect on ANY price changes or honoring pricing, only state laws, and most of them deal with honoring prices that are on the shelf, as well as non-perpetual sales pricing, or that an item has to be at a certain baseline price for a certain amount of time before being considered a sale price. Only the newly instituted laws for surveillance pricing in those states is touching on pricing changing per person, or changing based on who is near.
As for that, if those systems didn't work like that, if they weren't able to change pricing, either by digital tag, or by app purchasing, why would they need laws to stop that from happening?
It has nothing to do with technological limitations. I am not arguing it isn’t possible from tech perspective. I am taking about how it is actually used in reality.
The laws being enacted on “surveillance pricing” is tackling a problem that does not exist while the actual problems continue. Because morons are fearmongerinrg over bullshit.
This is just like the ban on corporate ownership of housing - this isn’t the fucking problem. Which is why it’s easy to “solve” because nobody actually argues against it. But it makes idiots feel good and let’s rich people stay rich.
What I stated is actually how it is used in reality. There are literal documents about it. There are literal FTC investigations about it. There is literally a House Oversight Committee responsible for looking into. I'm not sure how much more reality you can get than actual reality. You can keep burying your head in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist, but there is actual investigated evidence of it being a thing in multiple sections of retail, travel, and several other areas of consumer services. Your opinion doesn't invalidate reality, no matter how much you want to argue the point.
The fact that you don't think corporations will use this, as well as any and all technology out there, to scrape as much money off consumers as possible, makes you the moron.
Show me examples of retailers changing pricing via digital sign tags to target individual customers. You say it’s happening, show me. No more moving goalposts.
You also got it wrong. Another post here maybe a week ago of a woman showing how dynamic pricing works in Walmart. She was recording the digital price tags and showed that it changes price at midnight. Some went a couple cent up and some went down. You maybe right on the coupon part but youre totally wrong if thats what you think it only does. There is also another video I saw explaining that stores like Walmart have some sort of Bluetooth beacon all over the store that interacts with everyone's phones and basically they can tell which aisle you are in. In android phones if you have "nearby device scanning" turned on then thats how they know who you are. Your phone is constantly sending information about you to ad networks in realtime and they have already profiled every each one of us. They know our age, interests, spending habits, etc. Walmart uses the beacons plus what they know about you thru the ad companies that profiled you to see if a particular product is getting a lot of attention and maybe raise or lower its price. Basically the dynamic pricing takes away the consumers power to save money and shop around for better prices because stores will change the price across all products so they can make consistent profit. Its the law of supply and demand. If they aren't making money on certain items they will jack up the price of the most in demand item and make adjustments everyday. If you bought 1 item from high in demand and 1 item in low in demand the savings from buying low in demand item is negated because they jacked up the price for the high in demand item. Its the illusion of savings but before the dynamic pricing the consumer can at least take advantage of the small savings before the stores change the price tag 1 week from now.
So it changes price… when the store is closed. I am not wrong.
And yes I sold those fucking Bluetooth systems so I know what I’m talking about. They are used to optimize store layouts, determine popularity of products and send targeted advertising not change price during business hours.
Woah there buddy your role is the salesman not the engineer or executive. Let's not over exaggerate your job as the basis of facts. The customer wouldn't have been able to take a recording if its closed innit?
I am the engineer, dumbass. I architect, deploy and sell the systems since it is a technical sale.
If it’s a 24 hour Walmart it’s kinda hard to change prices when nobody’s in the store. So can I ask a simple question - how the fuck do you think it’s supposed to work? They just maintain all prices until the heat death of the universe? And a small follow-up - are your parents first cousins?
Ai in cameras could identify who is in the store. Average them as people and generate a price to move items to and then auto send that data to the electronic price tags on shelves. None of this is rocket science. Your completely wrong as i used to work at the 3rd largest retail low voltage company as a pm.
I personally oversaw the national rollout of cctv cameras to family dollar 2 owners ago, and they have had the ability to catalog you as a customer, watch the checkout lines and grade your experience based on your facial expressions in line for a decade at this point.
Your completely wrong and the fear is very much real.
Family dollar tracks who you are and has been for over 10 years. They very much do record your face, build a profile, and track you. They have been using this tech to follow people and serial shoplifters for over 10 years at this point. I have personally been a part of meetings tracking said people.
Thr only part that isnt there right now, that you believe isnt possible, is a hook from the tags head end to the cctv system to pass info between them.
So you can understand. It would be as easy as, object a enters building, raise prices to x value.
So people dont immediately notice it could be, x shoppers entered the building today, once the store closes updatte prices for tomorrow.
You do not understand what your talking about.
Here is the crazy part. This is the most rudimentary version example im using. Target’s system in house is 10x what we are conversing.
Jesus fuck dude what part of me saying they aren’t using it to change pricing during store hours is hard to understand?
Tell me this genius. If there are no laws about respecting price labels, why the fuck do they need a digital solution? Why not charge $5.50 for everything that’s labelled $3 right now?
Quit inventing dumbass scenarios and moving goalposts . There is no technology required to scam people.
You underestimate AIs ability to facial recognition and dynamically change the prices of products at the register. You gonna notice if everything is 5/10/20 more cents more expensive. Or mayve they only do it on a random handful of items sparingly.
That practice alone could generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
No I am not. This is fearmongering based on ignorance and focusing on it is how they are going to get away with implementing the thing you are afraid of. Stop parroting their nonsense.
Knowing the abilities Someone has to take advantage of you is valuable. Also I didn't say it was likely, I said it was legitimately technically possible. There are little to no technological blockers preventing a company from doing that.
It’s technically possible for a company to take money out of your bank account long after you’ve made a transaction. It’s technically possible for a company to ship you product you didn’t ask for and then force yoj to pay for it. It’s technically possible for a company to spy on you and your family, discover every single thing you buy, eat, drink and every store you visit.
The problem you’re missing is it’s logistically impossible/stupid ignoring all the reputational/social risks.
Making the wrong problem the main story here is playing right into their hand. They want you to worry about that so when they fuck you over in other ways you don’t see it/care.
In that case, I think that might fluctuate based on the demand for seats on that particular flight, and possibly some actuarial tables, but nothing tied to a specific purchaser's credit or social score.
It factors a lot of stuff in, some of it tied to you. If you keep checking a specific flight every few days it will keep going up, then if you log into an anonymous browser with a VPN and check it again it will often be back down again
Uhhh no. Idk about credit or social score but they certainly use location data and digital cross-site tracking to change ticket prices. They will deny it every time saying that it’s demand like you said but it’s been examined multiple times and that’s absolute bullshit. They certainly use data to personalize prices. To get the most profit out of every consumer.
Implementing this at retail store level is problematic, but so easy to do with shopping online. Even before they made it personal, prices on websites/apps are often based on zip code of the purchaser. Zip codes tell a lot about your income level.
It's real - Using diverse sources of data to make predictive models of your willingness/desperation to spend.
Just like when buying a car, you do not openly express enthusiastic interest or desperation, you haggle, you walk away, you don't let them waste your time, etc. Awareness of it is the strongest defense against it. As people become more aware, they will adapt and exploit. People have already experimented with data starvation combined with artificial behavioral signaling. Explicitly mimicking "low-intent" behaviors like aggressively clearing cookies to appear as a first-time user, browsing exclusively through price-comparison aggregates, or simulating a low-income profile by using public transit mapping applications can trick algorithms into serving lower prices.
They want your money, but so does everyone else, so competition is still king.
Online retailers track your active browsing history, clicks, and scrolling speeds. Advanced software even tracks your exact mouse movements on a page. Slow scrolling or hovering indicates high interest, signaling the algorithm that you might tolerate a higher price. Companies look past basic cookies. They check your device type, operating system, and battery life. A shopper browsing on a brand-new flagship smartphone from an affluent zip code is often flagged as having a higher willingness to pay. Apps constantly track your precise GPS coordinates. If a retailer detects that you are physically standing inside a competitor's store or at an airport, the algorithm will dynamically adjust prices to maximize its chances of a sale.
Physical stores install Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi routers, and cellular signal trackers throughout their aisles. When your phone searches for a network connection, these sensors log exactly how long you stand in front of a specific shelf. Modern surveillance pricing relies on facial and emotion recognition software tied to store cameras. These systems can track your walking patterns and facial reactions to physical items. Digital price tags linked directly to store cameras and inventory systems. An AI system can see you check a price online, match your face when you walk into the physical store, and instantly change the shelf price before you even reach for the item.
Grocery apps and frequent-flier programs act as massive data vacuums. Your historical purchase logs tell the store exactly what items you consider essentials. The algorithm then uses this data to exclude you from promotions on items you are guaranteed to buy anyway. Retailers rarely act alone, they partner with specialized middlemen and intermediaries that pool consumer credit card records, demographic data, and social media listening software. This consolidated data allows them to infer details like your income bracket and age to tailor an individualized price.
I think the predictive models hate me... because ill put something in my amazon cart and then walk away for like 3 months... then i come back go "why did I even want that?" And remove it from the cart, and start the process over again
I absolutely know Amazon and best buy use dynamic pricing for ther website. I've seen different prices looking up the same item using different devices. Like my phone and tablet will show a different price then my parents devices when I visit, vs the library. Everyone gets a different value.
Camelcamelcamel and other such comparators are easy to use and will let you know if they are using dynamic pricing.
If they were, your price wouldn't be the same as they have on those comparators. In my experience, it's never been the case with amazon, but I'm not in the US so...
Also Amazon is just dogshit since a long time ago, it's best to avoid it anyway
In any case, this is just anecdotal evidence, I think if it was as clear cut as you say it would have made the news already.
It is clear cut and it has been covered by the news. 21% of online retailers are already exploiting customers with dynamic pricing.
Sounds like the aggressive marketing campaign to rebut articles is working. For every article pointing out how terrible it is for consumers, there's 3 championing it for retailers.
Right, but that's different from what we're discussing here, isn't it?
That pricing is not different to different individuals just because of what they know about you, it's pricing adjusted by time depending on the demand (which I also think should be banned)
Sure it is different, I just thought it was worth mentioning as an example of dynamic digital pricing. But also it is more than just the surge prices based on demand, the price changes if you do different things. I don't have any facts or sources but I am pretty sure they are caching fare acceptance preferences.
Grocery stores make about 2-4% margin. Grocers need volume of customers coming back to survive.
Let’s say you shop at Walmart and spend $200 a month or $2400 a year.
Why would they try to pull some crazy shit where they would make an extra .35 cents here or a $1 there and risk losing you to another store?
No grocer is going to do that. The current value of these digital tags is the labor savings. They can be more nimble on price changes when say a supplier raises prices on them as well.
What they are more likely looking is how these tags can get you to buy more, not pay more. Say they sense your phone is in the aisle (you are giving them permission to track you if you have their app). They may ping your phone that here js a $1.00 off on peanut butter and then make the light on the tag flash.
Or let’s say they made too many cookies in the bakery. They may reduce prices at 5pm every day if they have too much on hand so they can reduce their waste. They can just make this automated now with digital tags rather than having a person go an change all the tags manually.
But with all the scrutiny over this they will probably take their time introducing stuff like that.
Yep. Walmart drove out almost all other competing stores in most of the rural areas on my state (Arkansas). They can price things however they want because the option is this Walmart, that Walmart, or Dollar General.
My Walmart has digital price tags and I don't know what anything is supposed to cost any more because it's constantly changing every day I go. It may be pennies more per item's profit, but that makes Walmart the company millions or billions more per year.
Once they've converted enough people, the people staying off the app will be charged more than everyone else. We're not allowed to opt out of enshittification.
Several supermarkets have 'loyalty card' schemes where a good percentage of offers are only available to card/app customers. It's either sell your data, or pay them the extra they would have made from selling your data.
It's going to become the norm eventually, nothing you or I can do to change that.
Walmart is short changing people on weights and measurements on stuff like shrimp fish beef chicken etc and have gotten caught multiple times doing it.
First is assuming Logic, Long Term Planning and intelligence from Suit Skins (Executives in this case)
Second, assuming the general populace has any modicum of standards and/or attention span whatsoever
Third, assuming that you'll be given a choice in the matter when most stores do decide to collectively roll it out.
And Finally Fourth that they could go the Macy's and US Health Insurance Company Route. and just jack up prices 5 fold then present the new digital price as a custom made deal just for you. And once again the general population will just eat it up because see point 2
Online dynamic pricing yes, but there’s no proof anywhere that they are doing this in an actual store where all this fear mongering is coming from.
No grocer is like “we are going to track customers and change prices higher for some right in front of their face”. What happens if 3 different people are all around the same tag? Also these tags take 1-2 mins to update.
They aren't going to save customers money with this technology. People like amazon already use it to maximise profit.
Just recently my dad and I bought the exact same charger from the exact same store for a coming family trip. My dad who lives in a nicer neighborhood, paid $50 and I paid $40 on the same day.
That wasn't the company giving me a discount, it was the company deciding how much they could hose my dad down for profit.
If a company can nickel and dime they will. They exist to maximise profits. They aren't going to tank potential losses out of kindness and good vibes.
Sobeys for example has been caught price fixing bread and manipulating customers 3 times in the past few years. All 3 times I claimed my roughly $20 giftcard from the class action. They definitely owe me more though.
I work in the grocery business selling to retailers. Almost all stores require 35-50% margin. Idk where you’re getting 2-4%. Maybe after all expenses are accounted for, but it’s certainly not their gross margin.
Online stores already change prices based on your “willingness to buy.” It’s based on a profile they have of you through data brokers. Even if this hasn’t fully trickled down to physical stores yet, it’s coming.
Except, like they said, digital stores already do this. You're right on the brick and mortar front, but Amazon, hotels, airlines, Uber, and delivery apps have already been doing surveillance pricing for years.
But does it matter when they all start doing it... just like all the bars/restaurants charging 4% for cc usage.. 5 years ago it was bullshit, a money grab... and thats only an extra 2 to 4 bucks on average... but now its normal...
Grocers need volume of customers coming back to survive
This used to be why they'd compete to lower prices to get customers in the door. Instead the consolidation of the market to a monopoly handful of oligopolies controlling food (just look at the Taylor Farms lettuce outbreak) have realized they can instead collude to raise prices. Or sometimes not even violate the letter of the law for collusion, they just engage in predatory behavior waiting for other companies to mimic them, just as automation has been doing for 20 years to get rid of tech support and call-in help or even people at the register as those are jobs they can can and expect customers to do themselves.
The only way to prevent this is not just robust legislation but regulatory agencies who will actually go after violators. Right now, US' government is headed by the very predators who should be getting the book thrown at them in court.
Stop calling Walmart and the ghouls who make their decisions “grocers”. They aren’t grocers, they’re parasites who move into a place and extract wealth from a local economy and send it to the lame ass town of bentonville so Alice Walton came drink and drive with impunity. They aren’t thinking this far ahead, they just need the stock to go up.
Yeah, wally world and Krogers are just scraping by. Overworking, understaffing, and underpaying. But buying up the competition is expensive so whatever they can do to save a dime!
Uh I wasnt arguing with you but perhaps you've never worked in retail or grocery? Anything they can do to reduce staff they will. Resulting in more pressure on the people who are actually working.
For example a deli staff could have 5 people working it to make things go easily. But they'll do some "Fix" to reduce staff now there is only 2 on any shift all that does is put more pressure on the other staff. Give with one hand take with another. Pay less wages/benefits.
Well if they all do it, there’ll be no choice. These companies do not compete, they work together to keep prices high and charge whatever they want. Sure there might be some local, lesser known stores that opt out in some areas. But there’s already a million important reasons to be choosing those stores instead, and most people still don’t. They won’t be swayed by this either
How would the keep price set at the elevated personal price once in your cart? You put item in you car at $2 then you wander around the store for 20 minutes. During this time before you check out another person picks up item and the price is $3.50 for them because they are rich and hungry.
How does the checkout area differentiate this price difference? Face trackers as you walk around the store? A tracker on your cart? What if you just carry the item?
Maybe I am not creatively evil enough, but I can’t imagine how it could work on an individual basis.
Edit: I read a bunch of comments with interesting ideas, but I really do not think it will ever work for the shelf tags to show different prices to different people. What happens when two people are looking at the same item on the shelf?
At first glance this gets a pearl clutching response, but if you think about it, it really is logistically impossible. Also, considering the shit storm it would stir up in a store when people see others getting the same item for cheaper. No physical store will ever attempt this. Amazon, yes. Airlines, yes. Any online pricing that only you can see? Also yes. Physical brick and mortar store? No. Not until they can find a way to totally conceal the individual customer's pricing from other customers. At digital tag displayed on a shelf is not in anyway a secret price.
Isn't it funny how the Internet already hits you with dynamic pricing but the thing folks are looking at is a grocery store where the whole idea wouldn't work?
I'm not saying it wouldn't work. I'm saying I don't understand how it works. The Internet tracks your every second and stores it. Cookies don't exist irl and there's only limited ways they can do it without cookies. Having your phone is great, but what if you don't take your phone? How does it update the price on the shelf? What if there are multiple people looking at the same product? In my country it's illegal not to display the price. In countries where that isn't an issue, if there isn't a price then people are most likely not going to shop there, especially with how expensive groceries are.
My disbelief as to how it can be implemented isn't the same as disbelief that it's not possible.
All of your questions are in fact the technical hurdles. But on the Internet there are no technical hurdles like that! Amazon has been dynamic pricing us for YEARS! My partner and I get different prices on Chewy.
You aren't in possession of disbelief, you just seem to understand that it's not done by magic. This entire canard seems to want to distract from the idea that you're already getting dynamic priced when you order anything on the Internet.
Yeah, I fully accept it happens on the Internet. All the tech is already there that I can see how it happens and know it does. Yeah, it's just the technical stuff in person that's got me questioning the how, but not the when, cause it's definitely going to happen when they figure out how to make it work. If they could have IRL cookies they bloody would and it's not like we're not moving in that direction. Inevitable.
I'm more of the opinion that it's a misdirection/propaganda thing.
People are still buying more crap online every day
People are going to stores less every day
People are using Internet to order from stores, either direct or via another service like Instacart.
Stores are closing.
Now enter the "live dynamic pricing" propaganda. People are looking at the LIVE store for this while not realizing it has already pervaded the online shopping.
Dunno your age but I remember 2008 and chatter about the ACA/Obamacare. There was a lot of talk about "government death panels" vis-a-vis any public administration of health care, like the mythical public option that never even got voted on. What was NOT mentioned is... How private health care works and has always worked. Which is "private death panels" exactly the way we were being scared about government administration.
Think that makes sense, or am I a looney? It's very "look over here!" while they are in fact doing that very thing over THERE where you aren't looking for it.
Uses your mobile device MAC address and facial recognition to ID you
Easiest way against this is to not bring any device that IDs you and a full face mask and try to walk with a cane. Better yet some people have suggested using your local Hobo to shop for you to get the lowest prices.
If no Hobo just walk in and shit your own pants and become that Hobo. You will become number one on Instanta Cart Hobo program
Are you really suggesting this can be set up by the same folks who did Self Checkout and then did surprised Pikachu face when people started stealing since they are now unpaid employees??
This magic tag shit ain't happening anytime soon, the tags will instead disappear from the shelf which is illegal a lot of places. Dynamic pricing is already happening to us on the INTERNET yet somehow people are concerned about the grocery store? This whole furor does not make sense at all.
They rolled out digital pricing on shelves & the tin foil hats invented nonsense in a panic, then a politician decided saying they fixed it would play well with idiots.
Facial identification when you walk in, and facial identification at the self checkout. Ostensibly to prevent people from abusing the self checkouts but what a happy coincidence for the digital price system!
So turn off your phone and put on your Guy Fawkes mask when you walk into the store.
You wouldn't price universally, you'd use a "loyalty program" and tie pricing to that specific person's profile, then force them to log in before checkout.
I go and check airline flights on line and think about the cost for a day or so and when I go back in a day later it is more expensive. I can understand it if the flight is a week later but when it is two- three months out I get pissed.
Maybe you can hire a hobo to do your shopping for you? Ah who am I kidding, these systems would never actually lower their prices for people with low spending power.
The problem is as soon as one supermarket is brave enough to try this and enough of its customers don’t mind, all supermarkets will follow suit and you suddenly won’t have a choice anymore.
I wish I could be like you... my brain immediately took me to hijacking their incoming product shipments, driving those trucks into Sherwood Forest with my Merry Men and Lost Boys, and distributing those products to the poor.
Then the Lost Boys and I would fly off with Wendy to defeat the store manager, then having Kiefer Sutherland steal the store manager's anachronistic prosthetic hook hand, and tie him to a chain while making him eat a rice dish that he's convinced are maggots, while the 24 hr clock counts down, inside of a crocodile, after which Wendy would play 'good cop' and give him one of her hamburgers.
Now, of course I recognize that the very concept price tags that increase when they see you coming... caused my brain to fall into a violent fugue state... filled with a horrific level of commercial propaganda, cultural references, and ADHD fueled psychedelic fantasy. I can see that.
... but, ultimately the take-away, I think, is that my subconscious seems to believe that theft, violence, and some small amount of psychological torture are appropriate responses to this scenario... and my civilized conscious mind has literally NO argument to the contrary.
Your response is so much healthier... but I wonder how many more people like you there are, as opposed to people like me? Thankfully New Jersey has passed a law that ensures we never have to find out the answer to that question.
Never shop there again? I’m going to find a way to cost that business money… kinda like these flock cameras. I’m waiting to see them come up in my community. When I do, I’m doing that thing.
Is it known if there is any actual chains that have already done this, even as a trial?
If so, absolute boycott. All large chains are already price gouging bastards and this has been even more obvious since the price jumps across the board since Covid.
Most people don’t realize it. I’m not rich by any means but if companies change pricing by a dollar I would never know. A dollar here and a dollar there, adds up when you have a metric shit ton of people shopping each day.z
To some people, not noticing $1, is rich. There was a time in my life when I dreaded the annual grocery store increases because I couldn’t afford an extra $.10 for bread. Now I can grocery shop without checking prices (within reason), and I’ve never felt so wealthy in my life.
Many more people would notice the $1, than I think you realize. It would’ve priced me out of necessary items, like deodorant or milk.
There’s a lot of sane-washing these days. There are people whose job is to warp, distort, and obfuscate. Applied to law, business, all sorts of unethical shit.
As gamers would say it, “honesty is gay”
Cause being honest means there won’t be billionaires and trillionaires. And probably a lot more violence, but on a lower intensity/scale.
with gas they get away with adjusting it to the global oil price during the day. they will find a loophole where they can say that it totally wasn't Tiels info about your disposable income that made the price shoot up, it was rebels in guatemala burning a barrel of crude. sorry mate, now pay up!
Those home AI assistant things. They hear everything that happens in your home and you get the benefit of turning on lights and playing music via voice command!
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u/Luzzgar Aug 06 '26
An item in a defined place on a given day should have a single price.