McDonald's and Walmart Are Part of the Widening Fray Over Surveillance Pricing - CNET
The debate over whether companies can set prices based on information they have about individual customers continues to grow. So-called surveillance pricing is in the news again on reports that Walmart patented technology for dynamic AI pricing about six months after filing for patents related to digital shelf labels.
Walmart, faced with a backlash, has been trying to assure the public that different customers will see the same digital shelf label prices and that its backend AI systems won’t engage in discriminatory pricing. “Your income, shopping history, urgency or what we think you could pay won’t change the price,” Walmart’s CEO John Furner wrote in a Sept. 25 letter to customers. “And 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.”
Reached for comment, a representative for Walmart pointed CNET to...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.cnet.com. To see the full text click HERE
