Digital Price Tags Arrive in Oregon Grocery Stores and Critics Warn of Price Gouging

As Whole Foods and Walmart stores roll out digital pricing across Oregon to make instant price changes, criticism has come from several quarters, with concerns over price gouging.

Oregon Whole Foods & Walmart Introduce Digital Pricing

Moving away from paper price tags, Whole Foods and Walmart are introducing digital price markers across Oregon, similar to the price displays at Fred Meyer, since they were announced by their parent company, Kroger, in 2024. The tags have not yet been introduced at Fred Meyer stores in Oregon.

A letter signed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and then-Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. at the time raised concerns that the tags could allow the corporation to surge prices for any reason, including the weather, time of day or holidays.

In the meantime, while some items are still labeled with paper tags, Whole Foods and Walmart stores across the state are already replacing them with digital tags.

The program started as a pilot program in Austin in 2024 and has since expanded to 150 stores nationwide. The first Oregon store to begin adding digital price tags was in Eugene.

A proposed bill introduced by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act (HR 4966), would prohibit grocery stores from using technology to price-gouge by preventing AI- or surveillance-based price-setting that artificially inflates prices.

Both Whole Foods and Walmart denied using surge pricing. The retailers say the goal is to simplify the process for team members to change prices, reduce paper waste, and improve the customer experience.

Whole indicated that a survey they conducted showed that their customers support the rollout of digital tags.