Big Change Confirmed for Walmart Store Shelves – What You Won’t See

(KMDL-FM) There was a time when we Americans gleefully joked about improving our mental health with "retail therapy". That's a quaint way to suggest that most of us feel happy when we're spending money. Then inflation steps in, and there goes the party. However, your neighborhood Walmart store has been watching how you watch prices, and they're adding something new to their store shelves.

READ MORE: Great Value Products Sold at Walmart Subject of Massive Recall

Of course, when Walmart adds something new to a store shelf, that also means they will be taking something away. Okay, perhaps "adding" and "taking away" are not the most accurate descriptors of what you're going to be seeing and not seeing when you shop at Walmart.

Walmart Announces High-Tech Changes for a Better In-Store Experience

The big changes at the giant retailer are a tip of the cap to technology. In fact, some 2,300 locations of Walmart around the country have already opted for and are embracing the store's new technology that is being presented at the hands-on "shopper level".

The big tech upgrade that has already arrived at your local Walmart or will be arriving sometime this year is a new price tag. The old price tags, I know you've seen them, were made of paper and required hours of employee time to change and adjust them.

The new price tags are digital. The LED displays will include all of the information that the older tags held and perhaps even more. This "computerized" pricing display will allow store management to adjust prices and product information from a central station. What used to take hundreds of manhours can now be adjusted with just a few computer keystrokes.

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Can Walmart Electronically Change an Item's Price Before You Reach Checkout?

Does that mean they could adjust the price just as you're about to buy a product? Walmart says they won't, but this video suggests maybe that's not the case?

You may have heard rumors online that Walmart's new digital price tags will "monitor you" while you shop. Some people via online platforms have even speculated that the new digital tags could contain cameras and make notes about the items you look at, put back, and eventually purchase.

Are Walmart's New Electronic Store Shelf Price Tags Spying on You While You Shop?

According to a Walmart spokesperson, the digital price tags are simply that, they are to display the price and product information on the store shelf. The tags do not interact with shoppers, and they are not set up to collect data on shoppers while in the store.

The tags can alert Walmart associates when an item needs to be restocked, and they can also assist Walmart's "online fulfillment associates" in finding items requested by online orders.

Which, in my mind, suggests that if the tags can tell store management about those things, they probably could offer some details about your shopping habits, but they won't. No, really, Walmart wouldn't do that to you, would they?