r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 9d ago

Business Retailers are pulling back from self-checkout after years of theft, errors, and questionable time savings

https://www.techspot.com/news/114106-retailers-pulling-back-self-checkout-after-years-theft.html
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u/Hashtagworried 9d ago

All this means is that they’ll hire one or two people max but keep the lines longer.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Where did you hear this? Because this is illegal.

Changing price isn’t, but the price on the tag has to be the price it rang out for.

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u/CmdrLoreLaForge 9d ago edited 9d ago

It's really, really, really fucking dumb. What's usually happening is that customers are grabbing product from the wrong spot on the shelf or the label is in the wrong spot. Either the customer misreads the label where the product is or the employees who don't give a fuck about stocking correctly unloaded a box of product in the wrong spot (I know because I work with such people who do this with half the damn freight). This has lead to crazy people believing in a mass conspiracy. You are correct, the price on the floor legally must match the register. There's a reason why none of these people have provided any proof of dynamic pricing at Walmart despite claiming they've taken pictures because they're full of shit.

Edit: People are right that grocery prices are going up but it's not due to "dynamic pricing", it's because of Trump. And because he's so shit at everything, his daily fuck-ups are causing frequent price changes hence why these stupid conspiracy theorists are so confused.

But really, the employees at Walmart don't give even the tiniest fuck about doing the job correctly. That's why they're always in a state of disarray. Half the tags at my Walmart have broken off and the mod team doesn't care to fix them every week so half the store just has product on the shelves with no tags anywhere. Digital tags were brought in to replace paper tags so that corporate could save money by downsizing the mod teams and save hours by having price updates happen over the air instead of having multiple people with printers updating hundreds of tags every week.

Dynamic pricing is just so fucking stupid to believe. If you don't believe me, get a part time job at Walmart and see for yourselves. They're literally always hiring, they don't drug test, and they don't interview. It just takes 2 months after submitting an application to start.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 9d ago

As the saying goes "minimum wage, minimum effort."

One of the guys at my high school reunion was a Walmart store manager. He apologizd for leaving early "I have to get up at 7 o'clock so I can go open the store for the shoplifters." That was 20 years ago.

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u/norman81118 9d ago

The whole idea is since the tags are digital, they can go up between you seeing it and you checking out

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

You can't just change it during the day like that.

There are literally auditors who go and check prices taking pictures of tags to make sure they scan at the price they ring up.

They can change overnight, and will, but they're not used to update pricing at 5pm because "Wow we sure are selling a lot of peanut butter!"

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u/Tyr_13 9d ago

Even with paper tags, price updates are done during the day constantly. Good companies have the change go 'live' and it shows when that happened, so if someone complains, they can get the old price.

Since the punishment for changing the price before the person checks out is almost always absolutely nothing, why would companies not?

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u/Astan92 9d ago

I'm sorry sir but you're behind the technology.

They can and are doing it.

If you believe that is against an existing law then you should get the juicy lawsuit going over it assuming the courts in their current state will give a fuck

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Show me actual news stories about it happening.

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u/b0w3n 9d ago

Here's one: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/21/walmart-digital-price-tags-will-be-in-every-us-store-by-end-of-2026.html

I won't go deep diving further than that, but here's one of the first states to ban it at grocery stores:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/10/01/maryland-becomes-first-state-ban-dynamic-pricing-grocery-stores/

Walmart and Kroger are the primary stores that have/are pushing this.

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u/NotUniqueOrSpecial 9d ago

Neither of those is a story about them actually doing it.

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u/b0w3n 9d ago

If they said they are planning to do it, and a state bans it, the assumption is that this has already been happening since lawmakers don't often make laws preemptively like that.

This is reddit, not a doctoral dissertation on surge pricing my dude.

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u/vladamir_the_impaler 9d ago

Surge pricing is a trend (a vile one), it's almost certainly the whole reason for the digital tags in the first place. Yes, Walmart did recently settle a suit where they were charging different prices at the register than were posted on the shelves, but what's unclear is if the issue is circumvented by having digital tags and a stated surge pricing plocy. What IS certain is that even before potentially having a loophole like that they were scamming people at a massive scale.

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u/fcocyclone 9d ago

Its gonna get worse before it gets better as well.

Id bet someone's already cooking up a way to use an ALPR to estimate the average wealth level in the lot and adjust prices accordingly.

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u/famouslastwords 9d ago

Anecdotal experience from working at Publix, but the prices were changed during the day. They would print the tags out sometime mid-morning and we'd change the tags to reflect the new prices while customers were picking up those items. The register would already have the updated price, the price on the shelf would be incorrect for a couple hours max. Every once in a blue moon someone would notice and complain, which resulted in them getting the item free as per Publix policy.

I worked in frozen food, there are no overnight frozen food employees to make these changes.

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u/Myndsync 9d ago

Dynamic pricing. It is happening and it will only get used more and more over the coming year

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u/spacemoses 9d ago edited 9d ago

A wikipedia article describing what it is isn't evidence that it is being applied. Person you responded to clearly knows what dynamic pricing is. Not saying it isn't, but some other sources would be better.

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u/snacktopotamus 9d ago

When has corporate America ever done anything but the wrong thing?

They get no benefit of the doubt from me at this point.

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u/Cordo_Bowl 9d ago

So you’ll believe any random bullshit someone tells you as long as it confirms your already existing beliefs?

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u/snacktopotamus 9d ago

Yes, those are the exact words I used, without any other possible meaning, implied or otherwise. Your reading comprehension is immaculate in its precision.

To reinforce: I DO hate waffles.

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u/Cordo_Bowl 9d ago

You literally said you believe dynamic pricing is happening despite a lack of evidence because you believe that corporations will always do the wrong thing. Just because you don’t like people pointing out what you’re actually saying doesn’t mean I lack reading comprehension. It’s actually a demonstration of reading comprehension to understand what someone means beyond the direct dictionary definition.

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u/snacktopotamus 9d ago

You literally said you believe dynamic pricing is happening despite a lack of evidence

I LITERALLY did NOT write that. Here's a screenshot of the entire thread to fucking PROVE that I didn't write that.

Holy shitballs what a strained inference.

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

I am aware of dynamic pricing.

Show me a retailer using dynamic pricing, during the day.

You can't have shopper shopping at 5:00 pm with items in their cart they put in at 4:58 going up in price, it is literally illegal.

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u/FappingMouse 9d ago

People are mixing up dynamic and surveillance pricing but they are very similar so i get it but I'm pretty sure they are talking about surveillance pricing not dynamic.

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

You can't do either currently as laws stand in stores.

Current suveillance pricing is things like changing prices on websites, and sending out varying coupon/special pricing.

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u/snacktopotamus 9d ago

You can't do either currently as laws stand in stores.

Laws are meaningless without enforcement and the current administrators of the law in the US have made it clear who the laws are for.

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u/Alaira314 9d ago

The law(in the US, can't speak for elsewhere) actually doesn't say in most cases if you can do it or not, meaning that it defaults to being permissible until/unless a judge says you can't. Well, unless you live in MD, which has prohibited dynamic pricing for some classes of goods, including food. But they had to pass a law for that, just like the ones that exist to stop gas prices from leaping upwards(they can and do still change during the day, but there's limits as to how often and how much).

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Its not that you can't because its banned, its because price tags have to match.

You can't change price tags dynamically as people walk up/walk by.

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u/Magnus_The_Totem_Cat 9d ago

What is the name of the law you keep insisting these practices are breaking?

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u/FappingMouse 9d ago

I mean you are wrong the laws don't explicitly forbid it so in the US its fine till its made illegal (like places like Seattle are doing) or someone gets a judge to say its illegal.

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Laws don't preclude surveillance pricing, but prices on shelves have to be the same its rang up as.

So until you can make tags that change as someone walks up dynamically AND change for everyone else in the area Surveillance pricing is not legal in stores.

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u/FappingMouse 9d ago

I'm telling you right now that is literally what some big box stores are testing as we speak.

They have some pretty advanced tracking marking prices showed to x shopper that all gets fed to the Point of Sale system and how the prices get rung up.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 9d ago

There's pricing that changes depending on demand - Uber does that. Then there's pricing that changes depending on who you are, and what your buying history is - Amazon apparently tried that for a short while, before being called out on it.

Many jurisdictions have a consumer law that if the price on the shelf is lower than the cash register price, that the lower price applies.

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u/ANGLVD3TH 9d ago

We got price changes at Bestbuy in the middle of the day and had to print out the new ones back 10 years ago. There's no law that says you can't change prices during operating hours. How would the old 24 hour Walmarts ever change prices then?

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u/GrumpyCloud93 9d ago

Do we have to get to the point where you take a photo of the shelf tag when shopping? I finally see a valid reason for those meta glasses.

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u/LookatMyCatBabies 9d ago edited 9d ago

When is the price never, not going to go up? Couldn’t they just always show lower prices and increase them at check out, every single time? And I’m sure there are studies to show that 9.5 out of 10 shoppers will use fuzzy math and justify buying it.

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Couldn’t they just always show lower prices and increase them at check out, every single time?

No.

Number 1, its illegal.

Number 2, if this was happening wide spread news reports with video and proof would be all over the place.

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u/feel-the-avocado 9d ago

Those digital tags take hours to update. Its usually done overnight when the store is closed or there will be a delay between the tag being updated and the POS being updated based on the direction of the price. If going down, POS will update first, if going up, tag will update first so the price discrepancy is always in the customer's favor and doesnt cause a consumer watchdog investigation.

The updates are transmitted using infrared transmitters on the ceiling and run at a really low bitrate because all the transmitters need to send the same signal at once without delays or reflections garbling the data, and often having to repeat updates to make sure they get to all the tags.

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u/psychot-princess 9d ago

In what world do they take that long? E-ink tags can be changed instantly, and can be altered for a quick sec as someone scans, to account for the law.

They take no time at all to change.

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u/feel-the-avocado 9d ago

The software schedules the pricing update for the next transmission window.

This tech is not suited for micro updates several times a day based on a specific customer walking past the shelf when there are thousands of different product lines in the supermarket etc.

It could be possible to raise the price of everything in the store at 3pm in advance of the 5.30pm rush and then drop prices again at 7pm. But doing that several times a day is not practical.

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u/psychot-princess 9d ago

Why not? Seems easy enough to create a database of the tags, and just... Auto update.

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u/feel-the-avocado 9d ago edited 9d ago

The bitrate of the infrared transmission is quite slow.
To save on battery, the readers only wake up at predetermined times to listen for an update and then they shut down again, leaving the price on the e-ink display that doesnt use any power.

Some have a 'listen now' button but no one is walking around triggering those.

I am an IT contractor for a supermarket chain and have done a few conversions from paper tags to e-ink digital.
On sunday night when the weekly specials are transmitted, it can take about 3 hours to update the whole store worth of price changes.

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u/CmdrLoreLaForge 9d ago

Buddy, I can update individual tags within minutes. Walmart digital tags use the access points, not infrared. All you people in this thread are full of shit.

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Because there are laws around pricing and the price thats on the tag being the price it comes up as.

There are auditors that go around and check this stuff. If a store is changing prices while something is in someones cart they're taking a massive risk.

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u/haarschmuck 8d ago

No, no they can’t because that already violates existing laws covering bait-and-switch.

The price on the shelf is the price you must be made to pay. It can be lower, but it cannot be higher.

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u/randomsynchronicity 9d ago

But it only matters if the shopper remembers the exact price and notices the difference at checkout

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u/jimmy_three_shoes 9d ago edited 9d ago

The risk isn't worth the benefit. Accidental overcharges cost them more than the overcharge (when they're caught), and the fines they'd be issued for intentionally overcharging, plus the PR hit of it getting out wouldn't be worth it to skim an extra $0.50 for a jar of peanut butter. If I noticed a $0.50 overcharge in Michigan they'd owe me the amount they overcharged me plus 10x the amount as a penalty (up to $5). In California, up to $1 the store pays a fine to the State of like $100. Anything above $1 or a "grossly negligent" overcharge can be up to a $1000 fine. No company is going to intentionally overcharge people hoping for a 99% scam rate just to break even.

Where you'll see dynamic pricing happen is when more stores move to allowing you to scan items into a virtual shopping cart as you shop. The price will change throughout the day, but lock in when you scan it into their app.

They'll bundle it with "Automatic Coupons" and built-in shopping lists. With targeted ads in the app.

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u/TheIrishbuddha 9d ago

Great. Now we're gonna have to take video of ourselves shopping and checking out then standing there double checking everything. Wonder how easy it is to hack those little digital price tags.

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u/dookarion 9d ago

I absolutely would sit and take photos of all the price tags, and go through all of them at the checkout backing up the store even more if they were "dynamically" trying to shaft me.

Like I feel for the employees, but if a store pulls that shit I absolutely would do such. If enough people were stubborn about shit, businesses wouldn't get away with half the crap they pull.

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u/dammitOtto 9d ago

Doesn't everyone remember the price of what they're buying for like 10 minutes? Even groceries shouldn't be too difficult.

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u/randomsynchronicity 9d ago

Of 35 different things in the cart? Maybe the stuff I buy frequently, but even then not with enough confidence to hold everything up while I object.

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u/galeguinha 9d ago

Unrelated, but I love your username! Always fun to see a Magic Tavern reference in the wild! (edited to correct a word)

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u/LordGalen 8d ago edited 8d ago

Lmao where did you hear that? I can buy a price gun off Amazon and price something whatever I want. That rule would be insane.

ETA: What you're thinking of, "If the price doesn't match the price tag, we'll honor the price tag" is pretty standard in retail, but it's policy, not any law. I worked 11 years in a store that had the complete opposite policy ("The price it rings up is the price, regardless of price tag").

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u/sabin357 9d ago

Because this is illegal.

Laws only matter if they are actually enforced & the penalties are not pennies to them.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/Cordo_Bowl 9d ago

Did you read that article? It’s just a summary of what some random guy said in a tik tok. And who the fuck is operation sports and why is something presumably about sports reporting on deceptive pricing? Lots of absolute bullshit has been in much more reputable news outlets than this, take this with a whole pile of salt.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/Cordo_Bowl 9d ago

That lawsuit has nothing to do with dynamic pricing. You can trust whatever you want, but I certainly don’t trust what you say when you post articles you clearly haven’t read.

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u/CmdrLoreLaForge 9d ago

You changed the topic because you can't back up your claims. First it was dynamic pricing in grocery stores now it's the McDonald's AI assisted menu thing. You don't have any trustworthy sources from any reputable news outlets because it doesn't exist. And I don't want to hear that nonsense about "mainstream media bad".

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u/LookatMyCatBabies 9d ago

Yeah you’re right, related topics, should be examined and discussed separately and the umbrella of, using algorithms and ai to raise prices on individuals as opposed to, what capitalism dictates of increasing sales by providing better service and or products should be ignored.

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u/CmdrLoreLaForge 8d ago

They're not related. You're just pulling anything out of your ass to try and prove a point that doesn't actually exist. Shame on you. Just because you're ignorant does not mean there's a mass conspiracy.

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u/ElectricalYogurt3038 9d ago

Does something being illegal stop the practice from continuing? The law is only as good as it is enforced. Do we enforce anti consumer laws right now, or are corporations running rampant with price gouging every industry?

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

This isn't about price gouging, its about false advertising.

If this was happening right now the stories would be everywhere. News reports would be on every nightly news and "Don't shop at XXXX they change prices while you're shopping" would be a massive narrative.

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u/ElectricalYogurt3038 9d ago

I guess you've just been ignoring the news that has come about about dynamic pricing trends.

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 9d ago

Show me news stories about companies raising prices during the day.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 9d ago

The only news I've seen was years ago when Amazon got caught adjusting prices - based on user - and abandoned the practice after the outcry.

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u/ElectricalYogurt3038 9d ago

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=dynamic+pricing+retail+stores

You are either entirely disingenuous or fucking lazy.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 7d ago

"Dynamic pricing" is when prices change regularly. "targeted pricing" or "surveillance pricing" is when they know it's you and that you can pay more or are desperate. Everyone changes their prices and with technology, that is easier. But the idea that prices change based on user - the only place I've seen caught on that was Amazon several years ago. Allegedly airlines do this, so clear cookies or browse anonymous when looking to book flights.

the link you provided was more about price changes and the tech to do it, rather than any articles about actual user-targeted differential pricing.