You grab a cart, head to the cereal aisle, spend 10 seconds debating between the healthy bark-tasting granola and the Lucky Charms. You put the granola back.
The store watched and recorded you doing that.
🏪 Smart shelves
Kroger rolled out EDGE in 500 stores (expanding to 2,600 this year). EDGE is short for Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment, which means AI tech and cameras on shelves. Walmart’s doing the same thing. Devices are in 60 stores now, ramping up to 2,300.
Built with Microsoft, cameras detect your age and gender. Woman in her 30s? Here’s a baby formula coupon. College-age guy? Energy drinks on sale. Older male? Sensitive toothpaste is buy one/get one free.
Digital tags can change prices on the spot. Snowstorm coming? Bread and milk jumped $2. Store’s dead early in the morning? Here’s a deal. Lunchtime rush? Sandwiches cost more.
Kroger and Walmart both say they’d never use this for surge pricing. Right.
⏱️ They’re timing you
Cameras, Wi-Fi and sensors track which aisles you walk down, products you pick up, how long you hesitate and when you walk away empty-handed.
They know you stood in front of the pasta sauce for 23 seconds. They know you picked up the organic brand, looked at the price and grabbed the store brand instead.
🧾 You on sale
Kroger sells your shopping data. Your name, address, phone number, purchase history, location data, health information (hello, hemorrhoid cream), along with your age, marital status, gender and race.
Americans are spending more of their income on food than at any time in the last 30 years. Grocery stores looked at that and thought, “How can we squeeze more?”
Regulators are looking into how grocery stores use AI and electronic shelf labels (ESLs) to update prices between the time a customer picks up an item and when they reach the checkout.
Here’s how to spot the cameras:
- Digital price tags, not paper stickers. Those are ESLs.
- Black domes at eye level on shelves and the end of aisles.
- Digital screens showing ads that change when you approach.
🥊 Fight back
- Pay cash. Harder to link your purchases to a profile.
- Skip the loyalty app. Ask the cashier for a store number. Most have one. Or try your area code + 867-5309. (Thanks, Tommy Tutone.) Works more often than you’d think.
- Turn off Bluetooth. Your phone pings even when you’re not connected.
- Disable auto-join guest Wi-Fi: In your settings, make sure auto-join is turned off.
- Wear a hat and sunglasses: Yes, really. Makes it harder for them to scrape your age and gender.
🛒 Know someone who shops at Kroger or Walmart? Share this before the shelf decides they look like they can afford the name brand. Use the handy icons below.
Phew, after all that, you need a smile. I made a mistake at the grocery store the other day. I went to get a six-pack of Sprite. Accidentally, I picked 7 Up. 😊