Walmart has always had a simple message for the American supermarket customer: big, but fair.
That is why the debate around digital shelf labels is more important for Walmart than it might first appear. The technology could eventually allow retailers to change prices much more quickly, but Walmart CEO John Furner has now made it clear that the company does not intend to use personal information to decide what an individual customer should pay.
Walmart says it will “price the product, not the person”. Income, shopping history, urgency or what the retailer thinks somebody might be prepared to pay will not determine the price.
For a company built around Every Day Low Prices, this is not a small statement. It is protecting one of Walmart’s most valuable assets — trust in the pricing model.
But while the pricing debate has attracted attention, something else is happening on the shelf.
Walmart is turning its digital shelf labels into an operating tool for the store.
Its new Shop to Light system allows a customer using the Walmart app to make the light on the relevant shelf label flash, helping locate a product. The same system is being used by employees through Pick to Light for online orders and Stock to Light for replenishment. Walmart says all three applications will be rolled out across its stores by the holiday season.
This is where ISN sees the bigger retail story.
The electronic shelf label is no longer simply a replacement for a piece of paper showing a price. It is becoming part of the supermarket’s operating infrastructure.
For retailers, that matters.
The same shelf technology can support pricing accuracy, replenishment, picking and now product location. That means fewer separate processes around the shelf and potentially less time spent by employees doing routine work.
Walmart says its digital shelf labels do not contain cameras or microphones and do not collect customer information.
ISN believes the real competition will now be about what retailers can make these labels do next.
Walmart may have said no to personalised pricing, but it is clearly saying yes to a much smarter supermarket shelf.
And that is a much bigger development for the retail industry.
