# The growing debate over digital price tags

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-retail-podcast-743360/the-growing-debate-over-digital-price-tags
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-retail-podcast-743360/the-growing-debate-over-digital-price-tags.md
Podcast: [The Modern Retail Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-retail-podcast-743360)
Published: 2026-04-18T04:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.modernretail.co/operations/the-growing-debate-over-digital-price-tags/
Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/DIGI4347717168.mp3?updated=1776470986
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-modern-retail-podcast-743360/episodes/the-growing-debate-over-digital-price-tags
Duration seconds: 2272

## Resource

Electronic shelf labels are nothing new. Lately, though, the topic has been making headlines as companies like Kroger and Walmart announce they'll be rolling out more of the technology across their stores. The small screens replace the paper stickers that store employees would have to replace by hand anytime there is a price change or stock change. But this is raising concerns among grocery store workers and consumer advocates about the potential for unfair price increases. In turn, the United Food and Commercial Workers union is making a legislative push across states and in Congress to regulate what companies can and can't do regarding in-store pricing. On this episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels interviews lobbyists on both sides of the issue: Jason Straczewski, group vice president of government relations and political affairs at the National Retail Federation, and Ademola Oyefeso, UFCW International Vice President and Director of Legislative and Political Action. The interviews get into why electronic shelf labels can benefit retailers because of the efficiency they provide, including increased accuracy, saved staff time and faster in-store operations. But the UFCW has argued that the technology could cost workers their jobs. Beyond that, UFCW has also raised concerns about the unilateral ability for companies to change prices, which could open the door to "surveillance pricing," or when companies change prices based on the data they have around who is shopping. There are also concerns about "algorithmic pricing," or using automation to adjust prices in real-time. In the episode, we'll also hear about: The legislative push UFCW is making in states and where that stands. What existing laws already say about price gouging an…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-modern-retail-podcast-743360/episodes/the-growing-debate-over-digital-price-tags/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-retail-podcast-743360/the-growing-debate-over-digital-price-tags.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.