Walmart's keeping artificial intelligence out of pricing.
John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart Inc., addressed mounting concerns about companies using customers' personal information to charge more, writing in a Sept. 25 letter that "we price the product, not the person."
While AI has added "incredible new ways" for the retail giant to serve customers and members, including through Sparky, Walmart's GenAI shopping assistant, it "rightfully also raises questions about the information it has access to."
"When you engage with Sparky, that’s an invitation to serve you better, not to use your personal information to set a personalized price. We’ve never used the relationships our associates have with customers to charge more, and we won’t do that with AI,"
Furner said.
In addition to barring dynamic pricing, a controversial practice used to base the cost of items on evolving market trends, Walmart has also vowed to be responsible with its customers' personal information and "honor the choices you make."
Furner's letter comes more than a month after Walmart reported its slowest quarterly comparable sales growth in six years and warned shoppers were likely being squeezed by high gasoline prices, stoking concerns that pressure on U.S. consumers is mounting, according to Reuters.
He added: "Our people will continue to oversee pricing, and we'll monitor and test our technology against these commitments."
"Thank you for trusting us with part of your family’s budget. If there’s one thing I hope you take from this note, it’s how much we value the trust you place in us," Furner continued. "Technology will keep changing. Our responsibility to earn your trust and help you save money and live better won’t."
Digital shelf labels make debut at Walmart stores nationwide
Not long after Sparky debuted, Walmart moved to make another digital innovation a reality: digital shelf labels.
Instead of paper, hand-replaced price tags on shelves, all Walmart stores will soon tout digital price tags, controlled through a centralized system. Walmart says price changes that once took multiple days will soon be completed in minutes.
The retail giant first introduced digital shelf labels at a Walmart location in Grapevine, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, in 2024. Earlier this year, the labels were installed at about 2,300 more locations.
According to Walmart, digital shelf labels will also help employees save time as they can activate LED lights on the labels to identify where items need to be restocked or where items for online orders are located.
Contributing: Greta Cross and Saleen Martin, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Walmart CEO says company won't use AI to set personalized prices
