‘Ripping off customers every minute,’ blasts shoppers after Walmart, Aldi, and Hy-Vee roll out new price tags in stores

SHOPPERS nationwide are issuing concerns over digital price tags as several retail giants recently confirmed their implementation at thousands of stores.

Walmart, Hy-Vee, and Aldi have all committed to moving away from paper tags for merchandise.

The retailers cited significant improvements to the shopping experience for customers and improved productivity and efficiency for employees as reasons for the price tag upgrade.

In June, Walmart decided to take the digital price tag movement forward on a massive level.

It had previously tested the electronic labels at a store in Texas for some time and found them highly successful for staff and shoppers.

That led to a commitment to bringing the tags to at least 1,400 stores by the end of 2024.

Walmart also said it would increase that number to at least 2,300 additional locations with the tags by 2026.

The company currently operates 4,609 locations in the United States.

Daniela Boscan, a food and consumable team lead at the Texas Walmart store where the tags were tested, praised the digital shelf labels (DSLs) for their positive impact on employees.

The labels save staff members considerable time swapping out the paper labels for new ones when prices change or merchandise is updated.

"Working with DSLs has transformed my daily routine," she said in a press release.

"A price change that used to take an associate two days to update now only takes minutes with the new DSL system."

HY-VEE JOINS

Other supermarket chains like Hy-Vee and Aldi found similar benefits to the digital tags as Walmart did.

Hy-Vee confirmed in a Wednesday announcement that it would be testing the tags at 230 stores this year.

Similar to Walmart's tags, they're equipped with flashing light features for promotions and a streamlined system to improve accuracy and efficient re-stocking.

The tags are provided by the retail technology company VusionGroup.

Walmart's digital tags

Walmart issued the following statement to The U.S. Sun regarding the digital tags.

"Walmart’s pricing strategy and business model remains Everyday Low Prices (EDLP)."

"Our new digital shelf labels (DSLs) are a technology tool for communicating these prices in the stores and for streamlining associate tasks, including price updates, shelf stocking, and product picking for online orders.

"Digital shelf labels improve the productivity of our associates by simplifying tasks, and this allows associates more time to support customers.

"Customers will experience the benefit of more customer support & service.

"Walmart continues to be a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer, and we are excited to enhance customer and associate experiences with new technology and productivity tools across our stores."

While Aldi never made a significant announcement about the rollout of digital tags, shoppers have spotted them at select store locations for years, per The Grocer.

LACK OF TRUST

While the digital price tag movement rages on, shoppers have noted serious concerns, including the potential for price gouging given how quickly and quietly labels could be changed at a moment's notice.

"They're gonna raise the price after you pick it up," a customer wrote recently in a post to X.

Others claimed the retailers would be "ripping off customers every minute" in a

on Facebook.

"Ummm you mean so it's easier to scam people," someone else claimed.

EXEC'S PROMISE

Despite the backlash, Walmart's senior vice president of transformation and innovation, Greg Cathey, promised shoppers sudden price changes would not happen.

"It is absolutely not going to be one hour it's this price, the next hour it's not," he said during a recent Walmart shareholder meeting.

Still, customers at Walmart and Aldi have claimed they were overcharged for merchandise lately.

A shopper claimed this month that Walmart charged them double the price listed for an item and cited its weight for the reasoning.

An Aldi customer also claimed they were charged at least $69 extra for an item they "didn't buy."