Dynamic pricing sweep: Will your ice cream cost more tomorrow?

Large retail chains are investing in electronic price tags, which allow prices on shelves to be changed at the snap of a finger. However, this digitization is causing concern among customers. Is it possible that Walmart, seeing high demand for ice cream on a hot day, will raise prices hourly?

Dynamic pricing has become a daily reality for customers. Airlines have been using it for years, raising ticket prices on popular routes and cutting them on less-demanded ones.

The power of dynamic price changes is even more evident when you get into taxis ordered through apps. With low customer traffic, the fare can be meager in the middle of the day. For example, using Uber directly after a stadium concert may pay us a small fortune. Often considerably more than booking a ride with a traditional taxi company.

The same could happen in regular stores. Digitization gives discount stores almost unlimited possibilities in this regard. In the USA, retail leader Walmart has just announced that it will replace paper price tags with electronic ones by 2026. A storm erupted online because one market analyst astutely noted:

If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream. If there's something that’s close to the expiration date, we can lower the price — that’s the good news, Phil Lempert said, as quoted by American media.

Walmart officially distanced itself from these speculations. The American giant argues that electronic price tags are meant to free company employees from the tedious and arduous task of physically changing shelf prices.