Kroger, America’s biggest supermarket chain, is being investigated over its use of electronic price labels on store shelves nationwide. US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey announced they were looking into the practice to see if the chain was engaging in surge pricing. So-called ‘dynamic pricing’ is common in other industries, such as flights, hotels and car-sharing services like Uber . It sees customers paying more or less depending on demand


There are multiple posts on lemmy about the stores switching to digital tags, some of which claim they will “save the customer money”, obviously an outright lie as the point is to make more money for the store.

Ex: https://lemmy.world/post/16718848 , https://lemmy.world/post/17161297

  • edric@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    TIL Kroger is the biggest supermarket chain in the US. I thought it would be Walmart.

    • slumlordthanatos@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Walmart is a retailer, because they sell basically everything, while Kroger only sells groceries. I think that’s the distinction they’re making.

      • humorlessrepost@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        My local Kroger sells clothes, has dressing rooms, has a pharmacy with a clinic, an attached gas station, and has a decent home goods section.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      I think most Walmarts don’t really sell groceries. Last time I lived near one, it didn’t have any produce, which is really the whole point of a grocery store.

      Didn’t Kroger just buy another chain, though? That might have been what made them the biggest.

      • Voyajer@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        The div1 walmarts without a grocery are mostly phased out I thought? There are only supercenters (general store + grocery) and neighborhood markets (grocery only) in the adjacent states to me.

      • BlueLineBae@midwest.social
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        3 months ago

        Not yet. They are trying to merge with Albertsons which owns lots of local stores like Jewel Osco and Safeway. But they need the merger to be approved by the FDA before it can go through. Their case is supposed to be heard early next year. Let’s hope it doesn’t go through.

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I haven’t seen a Walmart since like 1995 that didn’t have a fuck ton of groceries, including produce

        • girlfreddy
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          3 months ago

          Walmart has store classifications which govern how they are built according to the demographics of the area they serve, ie: population, average income, etc.