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.

Apps like Uber already use surge pricing, in which higher demand leads to higher prices in real time. Companies across industries have caused controversy with talk of implementing surge pricing, with fast-food restaurant Wendy’s making headlines most recently. Electronic shelf labels allow the same strategy to be applied at grocery stores, but are not the only reason why retailers may make the switch.

  • skuzz
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    5 months ago

    I’m sure there’ll be:

    • a lawsuit
    • local news coverage
    • a statement from some high up congressperson
    • a statement from the president “come on!”
    • a lengthy and expensive congressional investigation with the heads of the big three food stores where they’ll ask them if they know how facebook works
    • a convoluted bill passed that is based on the rolling average price creep over x consecutive hours that’s so confusing everyone just gives up and pays the surge price or starves as America tries as hard as possible to third-world our ass until Putin’s Russia (or North Korea or whatever) looks like the Promised Land by comparison (Reverse Babylon AD?)