Jack Crivici-Kramer

Jack's using air quotes, by the way.

After four years of inflation, us consumers have trust issues, Nick.

And we assume that optimizing prices only means one direction, up.

Well, despite you and I bringing this up with our therapist, Jack, Walmart points out that there are some benefits to digital pricing that do not include ripping us off.

First, less manual price-changing labor lets those workers help customers in the aisle instead of changing the stickers.

And digital prices help the delivery guys because if they're walking through aisle six, the label will now flash before the thing that they're looking for.

And Walmart says they can use digital price tags to mark down perishable items in real time to reduce waste.

50% off brown bananas, 50% off only the brown.

All right, so Walmart says digital price tags will help them lower prices.

Walmart's saying digital price tags are the best thing that ever happened to us, Jack.

But this next bit seems to confirm our suspicion that this is all about raising prices.

Because get this, yetis, according to the Financial Times, Walmart just won a patent that uses machine learning and algorithms to set prices.

To quote the U.S.

Patent and Trademark Office, a system and method for dynamically and automatically updating item prices.

Sorry, Jack, pause the pod.

My retail's a little iffy, but, um...

Does that sound like surge pricing to you?

Potentially.

Our elected representatives think it does.

And so, a senator from New Mexico just introduced the Stop Price Gouging in the Grocery Stores Act.