Walmart is accelerating its rollout of digital shelf labels (DSLs) chainwide, with roughly 2,300 locations already using the technology and full deployment expected within the next year.
Price updates are people-led, with associates reviewing and pushing approved changes through a secure system, typically outside of shopping hours, so prices remain stable and consistent during the day. Prices are the same for all customers in any given store, consistent regardless of demand, time of day or who is shopping.
The DSLs operate on a closed system and do not interact with shoppers or collect any information about them.
Beyond pricing accuracy, Walmart says the technology frees associates from time-consuming manual tasks. A “Stock to Light” feature activates LED lights on shelf labels to quickly identify where items need to be restocked, and a “Pick to Light” function uses LED guidance to help associates find items faster when fulfilling online orders. What once took multiple associates days to complete can now be done in minutes.
Operational scale
Walmart stores carry more than 120,000 items, with thousands of weekly price updates including rollbacks and temporary price adjustments. By reducing repetitive, low-value manual tasks, DSLs allow associates to focus on higher-value work — from assisting customers to ensuring the store meets standards for cleanliness, compliance and accuracy.
Walmart is not alone in deploying the technology. The Kroger Co. has expanded ESL use to 500 stores since first deploying in 2018, and Schnucks has been working to bring the technology to all 115 of its stores.
Union opposition
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents more than 800,000 grocery workers, pushed back sharply. UFCW International VP Ademola Oyefeso said the technology opens the door to demand-based pricing and threatens worker hours, and called on lawmakers to act before the rollout is complete. Bills targeting ESLs and surveillance pricing have been introduced in Congress and in ten states including New York, Illinois and Washington.
Walmart maintains that DSLs support its “Everyday Low Price” strategy and have no capability for dynamic or demand-based pricing.
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