Grocery shoppers across Tennessee may want to take a closer look at the price tags on store shelves. A growing number of retailers are switching to electronic shelf labels, digital screens that display prices instead of traditional paper tags, and some lawmakers worry the technology could be used to charge different customers different prices for the same item.
The labels are already in place at Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh, and Kroger has been using them for some time. Walmart joined the trend in March 2026, rolling out digital shelf labels in stores nationwide. Walmart says the technology frees up employees who would otherwise spend time manually swapping price tags, letting them focus on other tasks.
But the convenience for retailers has raised red flags for consumers and elected officials who fear the shift opens the door to what’s known as dynamic or surveillance pricing, where the cost of everyday goods can change based on the time of day, weather, demand, or even a shopper’s own data.
Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Ray Clemmons introduced legislation this year that would ban companies from using personalized algorithmic pricing. The bill was last sent to the General Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on April 7 and has not advanced further. New Jersey moved faster on the issue. Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a law on July 23 protecting shoppers from surveillance pricing, according to NBC affiliate WCAU.
Concerns about the practice aren’t new. Back in August 2024, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. wrote to then Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, warning that digital price tags could let the chain shift toward dynamic pricing models. The senators specifically pointed to EDGE Shelf, a partnership between Kroger and Microsoft that uses cameras with facial recognition capable of estimating a shopper’s age and gender. According to testimony submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs by Bilal Baydoun, that kind of data collection could let retailers build individual shopper profiles and calculate exactly how much of a price increase each person is likely to accept.
The Federal Trade Commission has also taken notice. A January 2025 FTC study found that surveillance pricing lets retailers charge individual shoppers different amounts for identical goods based on location, browsing behavior, and other personal data points. Then FTC Chair Lina Khan said early findings showed retailers routinely use detailed personal information, right down to how someone moves their mouse on a webpage, to set tailored prices.
The practice comes at a sensitive time for Nashville shoppers already feeling squeezed by grocery costs. Mayor Freddie O’Connell has been pushing to cut the city’s grocery tax as part of a broader affordability push.