Walmart digital price labels are coming to every store shelf in U.S. by end of 2026

As the technological and digital landscape has transformed American retail, there have been some areas of life that have remained unchanged. The grocery store aisle, for instance, looks largely the same as it did 50 years ago. Sure, price stickers on the product have been replaced by bar codes, but otherwise the aisle looks largely the same. But the biggest change since the bar code is hitting in the shelf space that matters most to the pocketbook.

Walmart is currently rolling out digital price tags to replace the old paper ones — the plan is to roll them out in all stores across the U.S. by the end of the year. Walmart isn’t alone. Grocery giant Kroger has also begun experimenting with the technology. The speed of digital tags offers stores the promise of extra efficiency in an age of supply chain shocks and sticky inflation, but it is also drawing some concerns from lawmakers about surge pricing.

Amanda Bailey, a team leader in electronics who works at a Walmart in West Chester, Ohio, estimates that the digital shelf labels — known as DSLs — have cut the time she used to spend on pricing duties by 75%, time that has freed her up to help customers. She also said the DSLs are a game-changer because Walmart’s Spark delivery drivers looking for an item will see a flashing DSL so they can more easily find the product.

Bailey acknowledged that with any change, consumers may be wary, but she waved aside fears of surge pricing. “They are not used to seeing digital tags — they think prices are being raised, but what they are really doing is eliminating processes,” Bailey said.

Scott Benedict, a retail consultant and former executive at Sam’s Club and Walmart, said the concerns of customers are understandable but probably overstated. “When a retailer installs technology that allows prices to change in minutes, shoppers will, of course, wonder how it might be used,” Benedict said. But in grocery stores, he said, trust is fragile because shoppers track prices week after week. “Every penny matters, and people notice small changes. Sensitivity is especially high right now given inflation, tariffs and broader economic pressure,” Benedict said.

“Electronic shelf tags make shopping easier by ensuring customers see clear, accurate pricing right at the shelf,” said a Kroger spokesperson. The digital tags also reduce time spent updating paper tags each week so staff can spend more time helping customers. The tags are only updated to reflect prices seen on the company’s website or to align with weekly promotions, “so customers can count on consistent, reliable information no matter how they shop,” the spokesperson said. 

‘Gateway to surge pricing,’ critics say

Dynamic pricing in retail does exist, but Benedict said most of these programs focus on practical use cases, like clearing seasonal items or overstocks, keeping prices aligned across channels, or fixing mismatches quickly. “Not sudden spikes that differ between customers,” Benedict said. “If people understand what’s changing and why, they’re generally okay with it,” he added. 

Nevertheless, some lawmakers have taken a dim view of DSLs, calling them a gateway to surge pricing. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) has taken a lead legislative role in banning not just dynamic pricing, but in taking direct aim at DSLs. 

“With food costs rising each month, it’s more important than ever that any new technologies implemented in grocery stores are helping to lower costs, not raise them,” Luján said in a statement to CNBC. “That is why I’ve introduced the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act, legislation that is intended as a preventative measure to put common-sense guardrails in place at large retail stores and protect consumers.” 

One of those guardrails is the banning of DSLs in any grocery store over 10,000 square feet. Walmart Super Centers can approach a size of 200,000 square feet; even its smaller Neighborhood Market stores tend to be well above the 10,000-square-foot threshold. Such a law would even apply to most Trader Joe’s, which has a much smaller footprint of around 10,000-15,000 square feet on average.

Congresswoman Val Hoyle (D-Ore.) is sponsoring legislation in the House that would ban DSLs. “There needs to be laws and enforcement to protect consumers — and until then, I’d like to see them banned outright,” Hoyle said. While there is no reported use of digital shelf labeling being tied to surge pricing yet, in her view, it’s only a matter of time.

“Without proper regulations, it is not so hard to see corporations using the loopholes to raise prices on consumers. The idea exists. It is only a matter of time before a billionaire in a boardroom implements the idea,” Hoyle said. 

Sean Turner, chief technology officer of Swiftly, a retail technology and media platform serving the grocery industry, said that while it makes sense that people are raising questions about dynamic pricing, the real issue is store-level efficiency.  “Digital shelf labels solve some very real operational headaches. They cut down on manual price changes, reduce checkout discrepancies, and make it easier to keep in-store and digital promotions aligned,” Turner said. All of that can mean fewer surprises at the register for shoppers and better-tailored promotions. 

“For consumers, the biggest benefit is accuracy and consistency,” Benedict said. “Shoppers want to know the price they see is the price they pay. Digital labels can also make it easier for stores to mark down perishable items in real time, which can lower food waste and create savings opportunities.”

Digital shelf labels do open the door for possible pricing problems, according to Roger White, professor of economics at Whittier College, and he said there is no doubt that the use of dynamic pricing is expanding across many industries. Airlines, sports teams, and other forms of entertainment, and rideshare platforms, have all adopted dynamic pricing. “To a degree, it is surprising that Walmart and other retailers have not made this move sooner,” White said. “Given the cost the company will incur to install the capacity for dynamic pricing in its stores, it would be corporate malfeasance if they did not believe doing so would not only recoup the cost, but add profit as well,” White said.

A Walmart spokeswoman said the company is engaging with legislators to allay concerns and that the labels are about improving store-level customer service. “If you talk to the people who shop in our stores every week, we think they will have a different view,” the Walmart spokeswoman said. She added that the labels “are just a modern tool to help our associates do their jobs better, but the price you see is the same for everyone in any given store.” 

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has come out against DSLs, while the National Retail Federation supports their use. NRF vice president of government relations Mercy Beehler wrote in a recent blog post that there are safeguards already in place to keep DSL from being misused.  “These aren’t theoretical, they’re enforced. Retailers comply with this framework every single day,” Beeler wrote, citing antitrust laws that prohibit price fixing and anti-competitive coordination. She also noted that more than 40 states and territories enforce price gouging laws protecting consumers from exorbitant price increases during emergencies and times of increased demand.  

Several states are looking to ban dynamic pricing. Pennsylvania became one of the latest states to introduce a bill outlawing the practice, following New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act, which became law in November. 

“Algorithmic pricing is ultimately a trust exercise, and trust is in short supply at the moment,” said Amanda Mosseri Oren, vice president of industry strategy for grocery in North America at Relex, a supply chain and retail planning software company. She says the real test will come as the technology matures. “Shoppers aren’t opposed to technology, but they want to know it isn’t working against them. If pricing begins to feel targeted or arbitrary, scrutiny will follow.” 

“Clear communication and predictable guardrails go a long way,” she said. “Most grocers use dynamic pricing for markdowns, aligning online and in-store prices, or reducing waste. When pricing changes are easy to understand and serve the shopper’s interest, the technology earns its place. When they don’t, the backlash will be swift,” she added.