What happened

Kroger's dynamic pricing system enables real-time price adjustments based on factors such as demand and customer data. The company introduced electronic shelf labels (ESLs) with "Kroger Edge" technology in 2018, expanding the initiative to 500 stores across the US by 2023.

This system replaces traditional paper price tags with digital screens that can be updated instantly from a central server.

Kroger plans to install cameras at digital displays that use facial recognition to determine customers' gender and age, presenting personalised offers based on this information, claiming it will enhance customer experience.

In response, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey launched an investigation into Kroger’s use of AI-powered ESLs, accusing the company of enabling "surge pricing." 

The controversy intensified as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concurrently launched a broader inquiry into "surveillance pricing" across the retail industry. 

Why it happened

The incident is a product of the intersection between retail labour shortages and the drive for data-driven profitability.

Kroger argues that ESLs are an efficiency tool meant to reduce the labor-intensive process of manually changing thousands of paper tags. However, the lack of corporate transparency regarding the specific algorithms used to set these prices created a "black box" effect.

There are currently no federal laws specifically prohibiting dynamic pricing in physical grocery stores. This regulatory vacuum allowed Kroger to implement the technology without public disclosure of whether prices change while a customer is actively shopping.

The shift toward "surveillance pricing" is driven by the desire to link in-store behavior with loyalty program data. By using AI to bridge the gap between digital profiles and physical shelf interactions, retailers can move away from uniform pricing toward a model that prioritises individual profit extraction.