In a growing number of U.S. grocery stores, small digital screens are beginning to replace printed price labels on shelves. The purveyors who embrace the electronic shelf label (ESL) technology say it improves price accuracy for consumers and increases efficiency for employees by reducing the need for manual price changes.
Others argue, however, that the lack of evidence reflects a lack of transparency. “I’m super worried about what ESLs are going to do to the price tag and the idea of fairness in the marketplace,” Katie Wells, a senior fellow at AI Now Institute who has done research on Instacart’s algorithmic pricing practices, told Civil Eats. “Big Tech-like injection into grocery store operations should be cause for alarm.”
Wells adds that accountability is key to preventing retailers from deploying surveillance pricing. But there is little public data tracking how retailers deploy pricing algorithms in stores, even in Europe, where ESL adoption is far more widespread. Without that visibility, Wells said it’s difficult to determine whether consumers are already experiencing subtle forms of price discrimination or whether those risks remain theoretical.
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