Separating fact from fiction about digital shelf labels and retail pricing

Welcome back everyone. New technology is changing the way we shop from digital price tags on store shelves. You're probably seeing that more. I sure am. To data retailers used to understand our buying habits. But what does that really mean for the prices we pay? And what about concerns over so-called surveillance pricing? Well, joining us live to separate facts from fiction is Jason Stracheski with the National Retail Federation. So Jason, good morning to you. Thanks for being on with us here in Atlanta. Good morning, Elise. It's great to be here. Hey, what a topic and we have a lot to cover today. So let's start with this. What would you say are the factors that go into determining the price that we see when we're in stores and when we're online, Jason? The prices we see in store and online reflect real world costs that everybody is probably pretty familiar with. The cost of acquiring goods, delivering goods, labor, rent, taxes, tariffs, and increasingly higher energy costs in bringing those goods to market. All of those factors go into how a retailer sets a price. But the final and most important thing that goes into it is competition. No retailer wants to be the highest price on the street. They want to offer a competitive price to win your business. You know, that being said, I don't know many of us that like the sound of surveillance pricing. So, Jason, let's talk about that and what retailers are actually using it for, what they're doing. There's a lot of misleading, confusing, and alarming terminology being thrown around out there, but the bottom line is this. Retailers are using data and technology to serve all of us better, to manage their inventories, remove waste from their systems and operations, and provide a more accurate, competitive price that incentivizes you to shop with the retailer. What retailers are not doing with data and technology is charging us all individually, secretly higher prices for goods. they're competing for us by lowering prices creating savings discounts loyalties and other rewards to try to win your business over the long term in retail the successful formula is all about providing a great value selling at a high volume and building trust with the community let's get into those those digital shelf labels that if you've been inside of you know really any store you know walmart is is solely had these the last time i was in there how do those those work and how would you say that they benefit shoppers and employees, or do they? They do benefit shoppers and employees every day where they're using them. This is not new technology. Digital shelf labels and technology such as that, we see frequently. We see it when we drive by a gas station, when you go through a drive-through menu board, and more frequently in stores. It allows retailers to compete more quickly. When you're in retail, you're not just competing against the storefront across the street, you're competing against folks that are selling goods online and around the globe. So you need to make sure your pricing is accurate and reflects current market conditions. And these are an efficiency tool that cut out some of the waste, remove hopefully some of the errors, and make sure that the price you see displayed is what you're going to be charged when you go to checkout. They're also an efficiency tool for retail store employees, allows them to spend more time serving customers and accomplishing other tasks, and it removes a tedious task of putting paper labels and stickers and all the waste that goes with that. So this technology is about serving customers better. What it's not about is increasing prices on the consumer. So what would you say, then, that consumers should keep in mind when they see social media videos? You know, I've seen them, you've seen them, I know folks at home have seen them, where they're claiming that retailers are using data and technology to set prices. And, you know, going against what you said earlier, many are claiming that they're being charged a different price than what, you know, the person behind them is being charged, or maybe in a person, a store across town. What would you say we need to keep in mind when we see that stuff? I'd encourage folks to keep in mind what their average shopping experience is. If you or I went into a store and we saw prices fluctuating when different people are looking at an item, we'd probably look at each other and leave and never shop there again. Again, retailers are trying to build trust and loyalty with their customer base. They're competing with other retailers in your town and around the globe, and they're trying to deliver great service and great value. This technology is all about serving each of us better, providing more relevant experience and timely savings and discounts. Retailers win and customers win when they compete against each other and retailers want to deliver savings to us. They want to help us meet our household budgets. So I would ignore some of the scary terminology out there and think about your retail shopping experience and how they're trying to make it better and help you find the goods you're looking for at an affordable price. Jason where can we go for more information? Great thanks for thank you for your time today and you You can learn more about data, technology, and how retailers use it at nrf.com. Jason Stracheski with the National Retail Federation. Jason, thanks so much. And like you said, to learn more about the National Retail Federation, you can head to nrf.com. We'll share a link on our website, fox5atlanta.com. Just look under the Good Day section.