Walmart CEO John Furner said on Sept. 25 the retailer will not use shoppers’ income, purchase history, urgency or perceived ability to pay to set individual prices. He also said its Sparky AI assistant will not raise prices or hide cheaper options.
Furner said digital shelf labels in about 2,300 stores keep shelf prices aligned with checkout and save workers from changing paper tags; they are not intended to vary prices by customer or time of day. Walmart may still change general prices when supplier, fuel or shipping costs rise, and it may personalize ads and recommendations without changing an item’s price.
On Sept. 25, the FTC closed public comments on a proposal that would require companies to disclose when they use personal data to set different prices. Walmart had also faced questions over two patents—one for automating online discounts and one for machine-learning demand forecasts—and said neither would be used for pricing. The Open Markets Institute told the FTC that disclosure alone would not sufficiently protect shoppers.
