As Walmart introduces digital price labels across its retail locations, it is seeking to address customer concerns about its new pricing technology.
In a public statement on the company's website, Walmart Inc. CEO John Furner promised that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer does not use personal information like income, shopping history, or a customer's willingness to spend to set prices, and will not do so going forward.
"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 comes as unease rises among shoppers, consumer advocacy groups, and lawmakers skeptical of the discount chain's deployment of digital price labels and similar moves by other retailers.
Electronic shelf tags are rapidly replacing traditional paper labels across U.S. supermarkets, letting store operators update prices instantly from a central computer instead of having employees swap out paper tags by hand.
Furner noted that Walmart is holding Sparky, its artificial intelligence shopping assistant, to that same rule, assuring that the bot will not raise prices for individual customers or hide lower-priced options that fit their criteria.
According to Furner, engaging in such practices would directly conflict with the company's long-standing "everyday low prices" business model.
He clarified that prices may still fluctuate, noting that Walmart lowers them when it can pass along cost reductions, or raises them when items become more expensive to source or ship.
In March, Walmart announced that 2,300 of its U.S. store locations were actively using digital shelf labels, with plans to expand the technology company-wide over the next year.
Executives at the retail giant have maintained that electronic tags help keep pricing consistent between store shelves and checkout counters, while saving worker time and lowering labor expenses.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission warned that personalizing prices could violate consumer protection standards. Although the agency lacks the legal authority to impose a blanket ban on individualized pricing, its new bulletin cautioned businesses that they must explicitly tell shoppers how they use personal data to set prices.
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