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Perusing the grocery aisle in the Westside Market on 23rd Street in Manhattan, you might not even notice the screens. They look just like paper price labels and, alongside a bar code, use a handwriting-style font weve come to associate with a certain merchant folksiness. Theyre not particularly bright or showy. The only clues that theyre not ordinary sticky shelf labels are a barely distinguishable light bulb and, on some, a small QR code. These are electronic shelf labels, chip-enabled screens that some stores are now using to display product prices. Unlike their paper predecessors, the prices arent printed in ink but rendered in pixels, and they can change instantaneously, at any time. The labels also come with additional features. An LED light can switch on to flag something, perhaps a product that needs restocking, explains Vusion, the company that made the labels Westside Market is now using. The QR codes are designed to help customers find more information about a product, or integrate with a personalized shopping list someone might have. Of course, these labels arent just labels, but end-points of a much larger effort to digitize every way we now interface with products. You have a network in the store. You send the information that you want to transmit to the labels, and there you go, says Finn Wikander, the chief product officer at Pricer, another company thats manufacturing ESLs with the hope of making them a fixture of 21st century shopping. Unsurprisingly, electronic shelf labels have become a flashpoint for consumer anxiety. The companies selling the devices, and the stores buying them, say the technology isnt about screwing people over but about making their businesses easier to run. Automating price changes eliminates hours spent replacing labels. It also makes it simpler to respond to new tariffs or account for rising inflation. But in a world spooked by dynamic pricing, electronic shelf labels can look to some like a goblin of digitizationa symptom of late-stage Silicon Valley campaigns to streamline and optimize seemingly all elements of commerce. Even members of Congress have raised suspicions about the technology, arguing that it enables price gouging and discrimination, particularly as it becomes more common in the United States. “Historically, when we thought about brick and mortar stores, prices were relatively stable,” Vicki Morwitz, a Columbia Business School professor who focuses on marketing and consumer behavior, tells Fast Company. “These electronic shelf tags break that assumption which makes pricing feel less stable. Even if average prices aren’t necessarily going up, that shelf instability can become a psychological flash point.” Screenified everything A handful of companies sell this technology as part of broader enterprise software packages. Theres Pricer, a Swedish firm, and Vusion, headquartered in France. Solum operates out of South Korea, and Opticon, known for barcode scanners, is also in the mix. Electronic shelf labels can also be bought, ahem, off the shelf and integrated into a stores Bluetooth networkno enterprise startup required. The pitch for these devices is exactly what unsettles so many shoppers: Electronic shelf labels make it much easier for stores to change prices dynamically and more frequently. The companies that manufacture and deploy these tools say there are legitimate reasons to do so. For example, a store might raise prices if suppliers increase costs, or cut them quickly when a product is nearing its expiration date. ESLs also allow chains to keep prices consistent across locations and respond more quickly to competitors (especially valuable at a time when shoppers are already carrying smartphones to compare prices between stores). Most consumers today are used to either doing their own scanning or use ChatGPT or Gemini to find the best offer or use price comparison sites, says Pricer’s Wikander. Then theres labor. Employees might spend hours replacing labels for a price surge or sale. The idea is to liberate people from very tedious tasks in a store. Changing prices could be one. Launching promotions could be one, argues Loc Oumier, a marketing executive with Vusion. There are also regulatory considerations: France, for instance, passed a law mandating that prices at checkout match advertised prices on aisles, which pushed stores in that country to adopt the technology, says Wikander. They are now rolling out more broadly in the United States, especially at large chains. Vusion says its labels are in use at Fresh Market, Mattress Firm, and Leons in Canada. Walmart, which declined to comment for this story, announced in 2024 that it would begin installing electronic shelf labels, with plans to bring Vusions technology to more than 2,000 stores by the end of 2026. Tests or deployments have appeared in Whole Foods, Schnucks, and even smaller retailers like Westside Market. The reception can be frosty. While there are some scenarios, like from Uber rides and airline tickets, where consumers have come to accept rapidly changing costs, the practice often feels jarring. That tension was evident in 2024, when Wendys faced backlash after announcing plans to install digital menu boards and later promised it wouldn’t introduce surge pricing for burgers. Shoppers also worry about price gouging, where retailers spike prices during emergencies. Exploiting consumers when they have no real alternatives or limited alternatives, says Columbia’s Morwitz. The problem is consumers may feel exploited long before an economist would say they are. There is also the understandable anxiety that the technology is designed to cut jobs. Some workers, as reported in The Nation, say the labels do not simplify their work but replace one kind of labor with another form of algorithmic babysitting. Unlike paper tags, screens can break, and computer programs fall victim to bugs and internet outages. Employees at one chain store operated by Kroger, which has also deployed the tech, have apparently complained that the labels heat up stores. (Kroger did not respond to Fast Company‘s request for comment.) Concerns reach D.C. Lawmakers have taken notice. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania wrote to Kroger after the company announced it would introduce the technology, amid accusations that it was using facial recognition to show different customers different prices. In a letter of response obtained by Fast Company, Kroger defended the rollout, saying ESLs helped it manage the 1.3 billion price changes it implements each year and freed up associates to assist customers. Paula Walsh,Krogers director of retail operations, denied in the letter that the company was using facial recognition or collecting personal information from customers through the tags. Kroger dodged my questions but confirmed my key concerns: Its using electronic shelf labels to change grocery prices in real-time and collect data that could be used to jack up grocery prices for Americans, Warren tells Fast Company. Ill keep pushing to make sure consumers arent being exploited while they work hard to put food on the table. Wikander, for his part, dismisses the idea that retailers would use the technology that way. Just because you have the possibility of screwing your customers doesn’t mean that retailers will do that,” he says. “I don’t think retailers would typically do it, because the consumers are smarter than that. Wikander says it takes a typical business around a year or two and that, while the investment upfront is big, the labels last for many years. Indeed, for all the eeriness surrounding the labels, research shows that it might not be much of a change, price wise, for either consumers or businesses. Ioannis Stamatopoulos, a business professor at the University of Texas at Austin, says there is little evidence that digital shelf labels lead to significant price swings. He pointed to a 2025 study involving an American grocery store that found no evidence of the practice, and another involving an international grocery store that showed that prices tended to decline, particularly for items with short shelf lives. Much of his research, at least, suggests that the labels are most effective at stopping food waste, since it makes it easier for stores to offer sales on products like bananas and strawberries when theyre about to go bad. For now, the future of grocery shopping may look almost exactly like the pastexcept the price tag is oh-so-faintly glowing.
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E-Commerce
Meta announced on February 10 that it’s introducing a new AI animation feature that lets users turn their still profile photos into AI-generated looping videos. It reads like an uncanny valley version of yesteryear’s Boomerang. The option to animate appears when users click “Animate profile picture” on their Facebook avatars, and the feature gives a limited set of animation options, including party hat, confetti, wave, and heart, in which a photo’s subject makes a heart shape with their hands. Meta says there will be additional options in the future for “seasonal moments and special events.” [Image: Meta] The tech is imperfect and can only work with what it’s got. Meta says for best results, photos should show a single person with their face clearly visible and holding no other objects. Some users may find it too uncanny valley to see a fake video of themselves, but there are other options, too. The company also launched the ability to restyle photos with Meta AI by filtering posts with aesthetics like “anime,” “illustrated,” or “glowy,” or by generating artificial backdrops on pictures. Text posts can also receive animated backdrops under the new updates. [Image: Meta] Response online to the idea of AI-animated Facebook avatars ranged from indifference to eye rolls over more AI content no one asked for. Some listeners have responded similarly to AI-generated animations applied to album artwork on Apple Music. For apps looking to integrate AI into their products, animating pre-existing content is low-hanging fruit, but whether or not it takes off remains in question. [Image: Meta] The new AI features, however, do fit in with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for AI as laid out on last month’s earnings call. In short, he wants more of it. “Today our apps feel like algorithms that recommend content,” Zuckerberg said. “Soon, you’ll open our apps and you’ll have an AI that understands you, and also happens to be able to show you great content or even generate great personalized content for you.” Meta, which is now along with Google’s YouTube in a landmark trial over accusations their apps are engineered to be addictive for children, has integrated Meta AI into its apps through AI search bars and chatbots. Last year it launched a stand-alone app called Vibes that’s designed with an all-AI content feed. By adding an easy preset way to animate profile photos with AI, it’s bringing the technology to one of the most public-facing personal spaces for users on the platform.
Category:
E-Commerce
James Van Der Beek was one of the biggest stars of the late 1990s and early 2000s. His family still couldn’t afford the cost of cancer. The actor, 48, best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the 90s hit Dawson’s Creek, died Wednesday. Van Der Beek’s passing comes a little more than a year after he announced on social media that he was battling colorectal cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2023. And while the actor and father’s untimely death is undeniably tragic, there’s another heartbreaking piece of the story to be told. His family was desperately struggling to afford the cost of his cancer treatment. Despite having enjoyed a successful careerwhich included hits like Varsity Blues (1999) and The Rules of Attraction (2002), as well as playing the lead role in a popular TV drama for six seasonsthe actor still spent the final years of his life struggling financially. Last year, Van Der Beek teamed up with the auction house Propstore to sell his personal collection of memorabilia, wardrobe items, and set pieces from Dawson’s Creek and his most notable films to raise money for his treatment. “I’ve been storing these treasures for years, waiting for the right time to do something with them. And with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it’s clear that the time is now,” Van Der Beek told People magazine at the time. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the auction raised around $47,000. His plight begs the question: If one of the most successful actors of the late 1990s and early 2000s can’t afford cancer treatment in the United States, who can? According to a 2022 survey from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), not many. Per the survey, more than 70% of respondents said they made significant lifestyle changes in order to afford their care. And more than half (51%) went into medical debt due to treatment. The statistics were worse for certain groups, with women more likely to report medical debt than men (57% versus 36%), and Black Americans more likely to go into debt than white Americans (62% versus 52%). Likewise, states with fewer people enrolled in Medicaid had higher rates of medical debt due to cancer (58% compared with 49% in states with expanded Medicaid offerings). But overall, almost three-quarters of the cancer patients surveyed were worried about being able to afford the cost of their current care, as well as costs that may stack up in the future (73%). On Wednesday, amid the tributes and heartfelt words, a GoFundMe page dedicated to the actor’s family also showed up online. The page, which GoFundMe told Fast Company has been verified, explained that the family has been under “significant financial strain” due to Van Der Beek’s medical expenses. “In the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future,” it said. “The costs of Jamess medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds. They are working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time.” At present, the page has raised over $1.4 million for his wife and six kids. The efforts being made for the actor’s family may be touching. They are happening, in part, because the actor was well loved. Shortly after his death was made public, the tributes from friends and colleagues began pouring in. One belief, which seemed to be shared by those who knew him, was how deeply genuine and kind he was, with many describing him as the antithesis of everything Hollywood actors are known to be. “There are people in this industry who are talented. Some who are charismatic. A few who are generous,” wrote actress Alyssa Milano. “And then there were the rare onesthe truly kind and thoughtful. James was the rare kind. He showed up for his people. He listened. He cared.” She went on to call him a “unicorn of a man.” The sentiments were echoed by many other actors he grew up alongside, including Katie Holmes and Melissa Joan Hart. In the end, the outpouring of love for Van Der Beek underscores both how deeply he was valued and how precarious illness remains in the United States, even for those who seem outwardly successful. That his family needed to rely on auctions and crowdfunding to survive a cancer diagnosis is not an anomaly, but a reflection of a system where serious illness often comes with financial ruin attached.
Category:
E-Commerce
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