Walmart is aiming to assuage customers’ fears about its new pricing technology as it rolls out digital price labels at its stores.

In a statement posted on the company’s website, Walmart Inc.'s CEO John Furner vowed that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer isn’t using personal information like income, shopping history or a customer’s willingness to pay to set prices, and it won’t be doing so in the future either.

“We don’t set different prices based on who you are or the time of day, and we won’t,” Furner wrote Friday. “Whether you’re buying groceries or electronics on a hot afternoon or in a sudden rush for an item, it’s never a reason to charge you more.”

The pledge from Walmart comes as concerns are mounting from some shoppers, consumer advocates and lawmakers skeptical about the rollout of digital price labels by the discounter and other stores. Digital price labels are rapidly replacing paper shelf tags at U.S. supermarkets and let stores change prices instantly from a central computer instead of having workers swap out paper labels by hand.

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[–] 3 points 2 days ago (1 child)

What if two people are looking at the tag at the same time? Is it going to show a different price to each?

This is just stupid paranoia. Unless it's unmarked until you scan the item at the register, stop being scared of your own shadow.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago

    We have had these digital price tags in Denmark for a very long time. I can confirm that when more than 1 person looks at a price tag, no price will be shown, only when you are alone, you will see the actual price.

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