Walmart CEO John Furner has pledged that the retailer will not use shoppers’ personal information or the time of day to charge different prices, addressing concerns about its expanding use of digital shelf labels.
“We price the product, not the person,” Furner wrote in an open letter to customers. He said Walmart would not use a shopper’s income, purchase history, urgency or estimated willingness to pay to raise a price. The commitment also applies to information customers share with Sparky, Walmart’s AI shopping assistant, which Furner said would not hide lower-priced products that meet their needs.
The letter comes as electronic shelf labels replace paper tags in Walmart stores and across the supermarket industry. The labels allow retailers to update displayed prices from a central system, prompting concern among some shoppers, consumer advocates and lawmakers that stores could use the technology for rapid price changes or personalized pricing, The Associated Press reported.
Furner’s pledge does not mean Walmart prices will remain fixed. He said the company may lower prices when it can pass along savings and raise them when products cost more to buy or transport. What Walmart is ruling out, he said, is charging one shopper more than another based on personal data or increasing a price because of the hour or a customer’s immediate need.
Walmart said in March that roughly 2,300 of its U.S. stores had digital shelf labels and that it expected the technology to reach the rest of its chain within a year. The company says associates review approved price changes through a centralized system, typically outside shopping hours. It says the labels help keep shelf prices aligned with checkout prices and reduce the time workers spend replacing paper tags.
The distinction between changing a product’s price and tailoring a price to an individual has drawn federal attention. In August, the Federal Trade Commission sought comment on a proposed enforcement policy concerning personalized pricing. The agency said businesses that fail to disclose how they use personal data to set prices could violate consumer protection laws.
Furner said Walmart employees will continue to oversee pricing and that the retailer will monitor and test its technology against the commitments in his letter. For grocers adopting electronic labels and AI shopping tools, Walmart’s public pledge places a clear standard on how those systems are used at the shelf and online.