WALMART’S new digital tag system has been slammed online as a “total disaster”, with many saying they have been knocked off the shelves and been smashed to peices.
Employees say that there is nobody there to keep the tags in place, causing them to break in-store.
Customers have criticized Walmart’s digital tags for being poorly installed[/caption]
Walmart has been testing electronic shelf labels (ESLs) at hundreds of stores that replace traditional tags with digital ones that can update price changes in real time.
The tags are also supposed to make it easier for shoppers to find the items they want.
But on the social media platform Reddit, workers claim that the tags have not been installed properly.
One person wrote that it’s turned their local Walmart into complete chaos.
They said: “Hopefully yours are installed correctly because about half of ours are just laid in the tracks and don’t have guards on them to keep them in place.
“They’re just getting knocked off all over the place and broken.
“The tracks are falling off the shelves. It’s a total disaster.”
On the same thread, others said that the Walmart electronic tags are not placed in the correct areas.
The US Sun has contacted Walmart for comment on the claims, but did not hear back right away.
MASSIVE ROLLOUT
Back in January, Walmart Executive Vice President Cedric Clark said that the rollout of electronic shelf tags would provide a more streamlined shopping experience.
He told retail industry leaders at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show conference in New York City that it would improve customer trust.
The company has been testing these tags since early 2019, and plans to bring them to 2,300 US stores by the end of 2025.
Customers have previously raised fears of price tamperig on behalf of Walmart, but this has never been confirmed.
COMPETITORS
Plenty of other major retailers use electronic tags, including Lild and Kroger.
Digital Labels 101
Digital or electronic shelf labels have quickly become popular among retailers due to the amout of benefits it brings to brands and their employees.
Digital labels are wireless display systems that stores use to show product prices.
Often the labels are attached to the front of a retail shelf and once applied, it is digitally connected to the store’s point-of-service system, reducing the price of management labor costs.
The labels have also allowed retailers to introduce dynamic pricing, which has been controversial among shoppers.
Dynamic pricing is when a business sets flexible prices based on current market demands.
Digital labels can also:
- Let shoppers know if a product is in limited supply
- Shows the online prices of competitors, to inform shoppers if they’re getting a good deal
- Allow ordering with QR codes
- Display reviews of a product
Source: Solum
Lidl’s rollout was announced in the UK in February 2024, and Isaac Ekpenyong, Lidl’s director of store organization, praised the move.
At the time, he said that the electronic tags would save on paper and allow employees to focus on other things in stores.
Again, shoppers raised issues of quickly changing prices, but Lidl confirmed that the tags will not be used for day-to-day price shifts.
Joel Rampoldt, the CEO at Lidl US, denounced dynamic pricing in a statement back in July.
He said: “When you say dynamic pricing, the hair on the back of my neck kind of stands up.
“You see an electronic shelf label and the thought is going to occur to you, ‘Well this is a way to raise prices more efficiently and more quickly and to take advantage of situations.’”
Electronic tags were rolled out across all of Lidl’s 190 Us locations over the summer.
Kroger also stressed that it would not use these tags for dynamic pricing.
Wendy’s had previously been criticized for its use of dynamic pricing, which forced it to come out and stress it would offer better deals for customers.
Walmart has been testing electronic tags since early 2019, and plans to bring them to 2,300 US stores by the end of 2025[/caption]
