Walmart says it's not using personal information to set prices as it expands digital shelf labels

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is aiming to assuage customers' fears about its new pricing technology as it rolls out digital price labels at its stores.

In a statement posted on the company's website, Walmart Inc.'s CEO John Furner vowed that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer isn't using personal information like income, shopping history or a customer's willingness to pay to set prices, and it won't be doing so in the future either.

“We don’t set different prices based on who you are or the time of day, and we won’t,” Furner wrote Friday. “Whether you’re buying groceries or electronics on a hot afternoon or in a sudden rush for an item, it’s never a reason to charge you more.”

The pledge from Walmart comes as concerns are mounting from some shoppers, consumer advocates and lawmakers skeptical about the rollout of digital price labels by the discounter and other stores. Digital price labels are rapidly replacing paper shelf tags at U.S. supermarkets and let stores change prices instantly from a central computer instead of having workers swap out paper labels by hand.

Furner noted that Walmart is also holding its artificial intelligence shopping assistant Sparky to the same promise and won't be using the bot to raise a customer's price or hide lower-priced options that meet their needs.

Furner said such practices would violate the company's “every day low prices” business model.

He also noted that prices can change: Walmart lowers them when it can pass savings along, or sometimes raises them because an item costs more to buy or to transport, he said.

Walmart said in March that 2,300 Walmart U.S. locations already use digital shelves, and it expects this technology to be chain-wide within the next year.

Walmart executives have repeatedly said it uses electronic shelf price tags to help the retailer change prices consistently and match what rings up at checkout. It also saves workers time and reduces labor costs by replacing paper tags.

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission said that it's putting companies on notice that the practice of personalizing pricing could violate consumer protection laws. The agency said it does not have the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances, but it issued a new bulletin that warned companies that they must disclose to customers how the personal information is being used to set a price.

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