Walmart Shopper’s Viral TikTok Claim About Real-Time Changing Prices Sparks Debate

Viewers are strongly opposed to what they believe is happening after a Walmart customer on TikTok claims to have seen a price change happen in real time. TikTok creator @rodshydroaquatics films while browsing a Walmart store in his video, which has received over 1.4 million views.

He holds a water filter and says, “I picked this up.” “Had it in my hands, was looking at it, this light turned green, and the price changed.” “I had seen some videos of people saying the prices changed on items as they walked down the aisles. Crazy world we live in! This literally went up as I was looking at it!! Walmart has some of the best facial recognition programs in the country!” he wrote in the caption.

Viewers made quick judgments about what they saw in the comments. One person wrote, “Dynamic pricing should be illegal.” Another person wrote, “The cameras saw your face and read your profile and gave you the price it thinks you’re willing to pay.”

A third wrote, “If the price changes from the time you put it in your cart to the time you get to checkout, it should be false advertising.” “It was an employee doing price changes. Sorry… we’re just doing our job,” another wrote.

Retailers that use dynamic pricing change their prices in response to consumer demand. A product’s price may increase in times of high demand and decrease in times of low demand. The New York Times reports that Walmart has denied using this type of system, despite the company’s introduction of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) raising concerns.

Additionally, there is no evidence that Walmart used surveillance to adjust prices based on who was viewing a product. Employees no longer need to manually switch tags, as prices can be adjusted remotely via electronic labels.

Customers may therefore occasionally witness a price change in real time. There are several reasons why it might occur. Take inflation, for instance. In recent years, the U.S. has experienced rising inflation, which customers immediately see on their grocery shelves.

Increasing fuel prices are another factor. Retailers often have to account for increased transportation expenses in the final price. Problems with the supply chain, such as those observed during the global pandemic, may potentially be a factor. Prices can rise noticeably when products are more difficult to get or take longer to arrive.