I will institute my own “dynamic pricing” scheme if this ever happens
Dynamic pricing could be coming to your local supermarket
Submitted 2 weeks ago by Beep@lemmus.org to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Thatuserguy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is it really dynamic if the price is always “free”?
Winter_Oven@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
surely negative numbers are in the cards? since we deserve the compensation for all the trouble
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
If the price changes for them specifically, yes. That’s the entire concept they’re pushing here.
philanthropicoctopus@thelemmy.club 2 weeks ago
Its much easier than you’d think.
GalacticSushi@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m obviously not gonna steal anything. Sure, accidents happen from time to time. The supermarket decided to replace their cashiers with self checkout operated by random non-employees. If I happen to ring up filet mignon as a Roma tomato, I think that’s just the inevitable result of outsourcing your labor to untrained civilians with no incentive to accurately do the job .
ranzispa@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
Self checkout is only a valid option if you are stealing. No, I’m not going to do your job to increase your profits by having less employees. Fuck those things.
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This reminds me of Bill Burr’s bit on the subject… “Twenty years, I thought I was a standup comedian. Now apparently I’m moonlighting as a fucking bag boy.”
cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
remember if you see someone shoplifting food no the fuck you didnt
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Especially if you work there.
cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
honestly the best part about working at a supermarket was delivery day when i could weave through the maze of pallets and sleep on the paper towels behind everything like a fort. i sure as fuck aren’t going to report anyone shoplifting food.
its_kim_love@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
If my local store switches to digital price tags to do this I’m just going to gather as many as I can and flush them down the toilet.
Ulrich@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
It’s a nice thought but good luck not getting caught on the 3k cameras in the store and following you to your car.
trolololol@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It would be a shame if your phone was infected by a malware that rewrites all the prices in the tags in your vicinity.
its_kim_love@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Of course I wouldn’t be doing it without some preparation.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
Security cameras in stores are kept purposely garbage so they don’t get bugged by the police to provide footage to them. Unless something changed in the last decade since I worked in a retail joint.
harmbugler@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
My local Woolies has had e-ink tags for at least two years, maybe more. Between this and Coles hiring Palantir, we mostly shop at Aldi. Bunnings and Kmart using facial recognition as if it’s no biggie as well. How long until they partner with CBA to check your credit card limit as you stand in front of the bananas to see how much you’ll pay?
its_kim_love@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
They’re opening an Aldi’s near me. I’m excited.
scarabic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Let’s call it what it is: price discrimination.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Dynamic sounds way more fun!
Zephorah@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
I’m still not clear on exactly what triggers this. Is it phone location, because a phone number is linked to all your data (unless you’ve been gaming it for the last 5-10yrs)? Do I walk by with my phone and the price goes up?
Is it like goodwill? Does the price change as you’re checking out? Do I grab a 2lb bag of medium roast coffee beans for $13, and because buying it consistently for decades, it’s now $18 at checkout? But is still $13 for the guy behind me who decided to try whole bean over pre-ground?
If rich people turn off their phones before hitting the parking lot and poor people leave theirs on, does the entire store get cheaper?
If you take a pic with your phone of the “advertised” price does that mitigate sudden increases while checking out, if you’re even watching?
Does having your unemployed, deadbeat uncle or kid do the shopping from their phone make it cheaper for the household?
What are the triggers?
chaogomu@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s the personalized prices. That’s step two.
This one is the digital price tags that let the store manager or corporate office instantly raise prices throughout the store for everyone.
humanspiral@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
OP was making a lot of shit up.
scarabic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It doesn’t even have to be per person. It can just be by time of day.
Zephorah@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
So, Sunday afternoon being the worst time to grocery shop will Leo be the most expensive time to shop.
Versus 9am on a Wednesday.
gex@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I can imagine price stickers would update daily, and individual users would get personalized discounts on their app.
App-less buyers would pay the baseline price in the sticker, app users would pay less. Like existing loyalty card programs, but with more data collection
silverneedle@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Does having your unemployed, deadbeat uncle or kid do the shopping from their phone make it cheaper for the household?
Au contraire
Ontopourmama@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
In other news, shoplifting is inexplicably on the rise in shops featuring dynamic pricing…
rumba@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
We can’t compete against these internet stores. People just don’t respect brick and mortar and buying locally anymore /s
ContriteErudite@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Some American grocery stores already tested the waters by posting armed guards in its stores. This article is a few years old, but the precedent stands.
retailwire.com/…/hy-vee-creates-its-own-armed-sec…Hy-Vee last week announced the introduction of an in-house armed security team to manage theft and in-store disturbances.
The Midwest grocery chain said in a statement that it has long worked with third-party contractors or off-duty law enforcement that work in a security capacity. The goal of bringing it in-house is “to create a consistent look for the security team and consistent approach to customer service and security across all [its] stores.”
HasturInYellow@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You wouldn’t shoot a man over a bagel, would you?
Corporate America:
C4551E@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
slavery is legal in jails (in the US)
No_Bark@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
It is morally correct to shoplift from stores that do this.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It might not be legal, but it’s already morally acceptable to shoplift from Coles and Woolworths
I just don’t because it would be a massive pain if I were to be caught
Babalugats@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Boycott the stores that use them, it might help them change their mind behind they become the norm.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Should be against the law the change the price after the shop opens at something like a grocery store. Nobody should shop anywhere where the price you pick it up at can change by the time you get to the checkout.
cmhe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Issue is that haggling is actually legal in many countries.
So at the cashier they will make you an offer, which, if you pay, accept.
Now with technical support making individual offers becomes pretty easy and effordless on their end, but if you are in a hurry you don’t have that technical support to make a counter offer that effordless… So the shopper is at an disadvantage. Either way, your reaction, wherever ypu buy or not will train the AI of the store to extract the maximum amount of money of the broad customer base. If some people are priced out of living, they probably don’t care.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Haggling might be fine but they have to honor price tags.
If I’m in a grocery store and I see $1.00 they can’t change it and try to charge me $1.10, and when I object and say it was $1.00 it shows $1.10 now.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
They do that anyway, but usually prices going down.
e.g. yellow stickers going on things that will expire soon.
You’ve not lived if you haven’t watched two pensioners fight to the death over a 20p pack of Greek yoghurt.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s a little different.
Items that can expire get marked down at some point during the day, but they aren’t changing the normal price of the item. If there’s 20 packs of chicken beasts on the shelf, 5 or 6 might get the sticker.
There’s no guarantee that the one you have would have even gotten a sticker, and if you’re savvy enough, you might have intentionally chosen the pack with the earliest packed on date.
They aren’t just going up and marking down the main price on everything, and its also always down, never up.
minorkeys@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Then I won’t be going to that supermarket.
adonkeystomple@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Time to vote with our wallets. I absolutely will refuse to shop at any store in my area that starts implementing this.
cmhe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Sure… If you even notice it. And if enough people will care and if there are still stores around that don’t do that, clearly superior profit maximising scheme.
I’d rather want this stuff to become illegal. So calling your representatives, make news and go to the streets about this would I think help more that yet another boycott.
adonkeystomple@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I completely agree. Best case scenario I hope this becomes illegal, however if not then I still would never shop somewhere with this sort of scummy tactic.
EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
if there are still stores around that don’t do that
That would be my concern is that we end up with an illusion of choice.
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m going to start dynamic payments. “Oh, between 6-9pm I pay 10% less.”
nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
and now there’s going to be a really popular AI driven phone app that you will use to scan items and get price ranges so that you know if you’re being ripped off or not
pHr34kY@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I already have a browser plugin that tells me the price history of everything at Coles. There’s one for Woolies too.
NannerBanner@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
Good choice of product to care about.
ranzispa@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
Those are some huge price swings for some chocolate in just a couple months time span. Is it common for products to fluctuate so much in price in your area?
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
$6 dollarydoos for fucking timtams?!
TwilitSky@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Do you have an App that offers better places to shop?
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
What’s the name of that plugin?
bold_atlas@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You don’t need a fucking AI app to do that…JFC
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Sigh, no you don’t need a fucking AI app to do that.
AI could just be used as a buzzword, so that the movement becomes more popular
thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Not quite the same thing, but I used an LLM to cobble together a HTML file that allows me to search for products on Coles, Woolies, Aldi and Amazon at the same time in the same window (via frames and a Firefox extension to get around some security settings).
Works a treat when planning our big shops for the week, and has already saved us hundreds of dollars since Jan.
starman2112@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I’ve already sent feedback to Walmart about my refusal to buy anything with a digital price tag. The thing is, I believe them when they say that prices are only updated between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. The problem is that that policy could change literally any time.
Walmart has every inch of their store covered in cameras. They have facial recognition systems so they know who I am the moment I walk in the store. They know I buy graham crackers. They know I’ve put up with price increases in the past. What is preventing them from adding $0.10 to those graham crackers’ price tag the moment I walk down the crackers aisle? Literally nothing. They could, and that’s reason enough for me to boycott
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Personally I have been boycotting Walmart for over 15 years because they refuse to hire most of their employees full time so as to dodge having to provide mandated health insurance and they have a long history of completely screwing the lives of people who use their automated check out system.
Couldn’t pay me to shop at their horrible stores. FUCK Walmart and FUCK the Walton family who’ve become billionaires off the back of poor people in America.
starman2112@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Yeah, my problem is that I’m too poor to shop elsewhere. So far my local Kroger is only a little more expensive, but at least I know that everyone is paying $8.49 for that six pack of graham crackers
ranzispa@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
The fact that the other guy who buys the same crackers, but they know they have to give a $0.10 discount so that he’ll buy a beer with it, is also walking down the same aisle. That is likely what would prevent them.
TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
These have got to be hackable in a fun way
tourist@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If they got batteries
I want them batteries
dewey_mcbrewster@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If they want to do dynamic pricing, maybe we’ll just have to start dynamic shopping.
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s weird, the higher the prices get, the worse my memory and aptitude with self service checkouts gets.
ranzispa@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
Don’t you do that already? Do you just go to one store and buy meat, fish vegetables, alcoholics, cleaning supplies and so on in the same place?
Hairyfishnuts@feddit.online 2 weeks ago
Thanks. I hate it.
epicthundercat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Portland banned it for housing. Time to ban it for everything else!
Smaile@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
these gonna get hacked…
M0oP0o@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
I will buy that for a dollar. (no really lettuce for a $1 is worth the hack)
humanspiral@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
A problem area is pricing that changes 10 minutes after you put it in basket but before checkout. Though OP did go through some other abuse scenarios, though some were far fetched. This can’t allow a store to personalize prices the way a web site can.
daychilde@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is what I came to the comments to gripe about this whole thing. Yes, they can play some games and probably will, but consider: People will be watching. They do this and you bet people will track this crap and post about it. The blowback will be huge.
If they’re stupid enough to try this, it will not last. lol. You can raise prices over the long term, but fuck around with short term prices people can see changing for no good reason? Yeah…
And on the “personal pricing” - that’s written by someone that doesn’t understand how barcodes work.
But I’m sure they will try to play some games with it.
moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
“It was $2.99 when I picked it up.”
Watch a product for a minutes, clock the lowest it displays in that time, run in and grab it, “It was $2.99.”
Repeat for all 30 items in your cart just to annoy the store.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
The solution of which is that you change the tag before you change the actual price if it’s an increase, and the price before the tag if it’s a discount, with a long enough delay. That’s what they do with gas pumps and the advertisements here in Finland.
Cheeseballll1@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Free epaper displays!
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Start pushing your state gov to ban this.
cmhe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
In Germany the price is actually set at the cashier, not the tag. I found that out the hard way once, where the price tag was wrong and I had to pay more.
So dynamic pricing wouldn’t even require deploying these smart tags, the cashier or the ‘smart’ self-checkout could just do it on their own. They could just use their cameras, analyze your face to figure out if you are in a hurry or not, or in any other way willing to accept a higher price and then offer you the ware to something you are probably going to accept.
timestatic@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
They already do that, just not as frequently. They change price tags of items every day by hand
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Looks like e-ink. A thumb tack taped to your thumb should take care of these pretty quick and inconspicuously. Especially if people generally agree this is stupid and should be shunned.
proudblond@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The chain grocery store near us (Safeway) has had stupidly high prices since the pandemic. I decided I’m not going to shop there anymore unless I really have to. We are lucky to have a locally-owned, small chain grocery store very close to us. Prices are high but honestly not much if at all higher than Safeway and I’d rather pay a small premium to help them stay in business. Fuck Safeway and Albertsons.
HasturInYellow@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Dynamic mass theft.
Innovative exploitation.
Next-Generation sculduggery.
apftwb@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m going to start haggling with the cashiers.
silverneedle@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Ghettotax for individuals everywhere incoming…
lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s going to be hilarious when these get hacked