A bill is advancing through the Massachusetts legislature that will allow supermarkets to leave off item price tags and instead force customers to rely on electronic scanners spaced throughout the store. Although prices will still need to be displayed on store shelves for most items, you’ll have to rely on your memory and your faith in the store’s scanner system at checkout. John Hurst, the president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, “said consumers will benefit in the form of lower prices and shortened lines once stores no longer need to devote resources to item-by-item pricing.” But kjd aa- [thump]
–sorry, we just fell out of our chairs laughing at the idea of a supermarket out there that will heroically pass the savings downstream to consumers instead of profiting directly from it.
The bill’s critics, which include the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group and the ConsumerWorld.org Web site, say consumers will suffer because they may be forced to wander as far away as 5,000 feet in a particular store to scan an item and check its price. If a retailer opts for the scanning system alternative, prices would still need to be displayed on store shelves for most items.
The critics say it will be harder to catch overcharges at the cash register, and the scanning machines may not pick up on sale prices or special prices for customers with loyalty cards.
“Consumer groups worry that item pricing could go away at supermarkets” *warning! obnoxious ads* [Enterprisenews.com] (Thanks to Linus!)
(Photo: Getty)
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@adamcz: I was wondering when we would get a “this doesn’t affect me, so why is Consumerist talking about it?” post. Cheers.
If I were as stupid as “the bill’s critics” quoted in the source article appear to be, I would never let myself be interviewed on the record… for anything!
“The bill’s critics … say consumers will suffer because they may be forced to wander as far away as 5,000 feet in a particular store to scan an item and check its price.”
Already well hashed out here in the comments… unless your store is a maze… there aren’t even very many malls where this would be true!
The critics say … the scanning machines may not pick up on sale prices or special prices for customers with loyalty cards.
And this is the funniest one of all! These “critics” clearly have no idea how a modern retail store scanner works! Electronic scanning makes it much easier to implement both sale prices and loyalty card programs! What a bunch of moroons!
Like others have said, this would just put Massachusetts on a level with 48 of the other 50 states. It will, however, put Colman Herman out of a “job.”
@jakesprincess:
If anything it makes me think I’m spending more than I am (I mostly round up when doing my mental running total), thus making me more cautious.
I think the main opposition to this is the massive price tag manufacturer lobby. These tags were useful for: 1. You could peel of the top tag to reveal the older one and the supermarkets gouging 2. You could get an item for free if it was incorrectly labeled.
…and 3 to find out what the price of an item is. Items are put over the wrong shelf tags all the time. Hunting for a scanner, then going back to shelf to compare to prices, then going back to the scanner will be a pain. Really, most people will buy the item that they thought was a different price and not waste gas in returning it. And if you do return it, it won’t be free.
This is not an improvement. I’m with the price tag lobby.
If it means lower prices I could care less. Who looks at the price after you’ve picked out what to buy anyways? As a Mass resident I’d gladly do it if it meant cheaper prices. I think the critics are ridiculous. It’s not hard to scan an item.
Stores want to save on labor costs. Someone has to remove all the stickers when the prices go up.
@AbstractConcept:
True, but it also depends on the scanners actually working. The ones at CVS and Walgreens have a very high not available rate and “item not found” rate. In a big grocery store, it will be a pain if two out of 4 scanners are down.
If they add a pricing guarantee law like CT (accurate price or it’s free), then have at it. They will still make plenty of pricing mistakes.
Man, the anti-consumer trolls really came out in force on this thread. And clearly these pro-business trolls don’t even do their own shopping, and have never worked at a a retail store, because scanners are very infrequently updated with sales, for the obvious reason that if you’re going through check out, and you don’t realize you didn’t get the discount (say if you’re buying a large quantity of items), then the store just suckered you into buying something you might otherwise not have, and kept the extra money. I NEVER leave the super market without having to prove to a cashier that an item was marked for less than I was charged.
All this is for is to encourage bad shopping habits, such as impulse buying, by removing associative sticker-shock. It’s saves the companies money, and ends up costing consumers more. Anyone who sticks up for this, or is dumb enough to think it will save consumers money, is probably too stupid to even type the English language, and so is most likely part of the troll infestation around here. Why are libertarians/corporatists/conservatives/free-market zombies so threatened by this site?
@Kanti_V2: You lose the argument.
Any time you call people names to make a point means you can’t make a rational argument.
What most of the “Stupid Trolls” are pointing out is that 99% of the stores in the country already comply with the new law. And my point still stands, price sticker requirements actually mean fewer sales, since the time involved in repricing can be prohibitive.
I sure hope they ban you for your nastiness.
That’s the way it is around here! I dont know of any grocery store that actually puts prices on their products anymore. They are on the shelves.
@Bladefist: It makes it because the retail special interest groups LOBBY for it to. Welcome to America
@AbstractConcept: Yea, you MUST be a mASS resident. DUMB AS A STUMP. A. Moron, do you REALLY think it would me lower prices???? B. Um, dillweed, CONSUMERS look at prices after they picked the item. C. The shelves usually don’t have the prices either. Ever play, GUESS THE PRICE! at a store?? Not EVERYONE has a 6 figure income jerkoff.
@Kanti_V2: Lovely screed. Now, a quick rebuttal from a “free-market zombie” who does his own shopping and who has worked in a supermarket:
1) Somehow, the rest of the country has been able to work with this system without being “suckered”. If you are fighting The Man by checking each individual sticker against the register display, then more power to you, you valiant crusader for justice. To disparage those who don’t need every item to be individually tagged in order to monitor the correctness of their orders is pretty odd. Also sounds a bit paranoid.
2) You claim that the infrequent update of scanners is employed by vendors as a deliberate tactic to hoodwink customers. Wouldn’t this go against the vendor at times? Prices go up and down.
3.) How does tagging each individual item discourage impulse buying? Are you saying that people ignore the posted prices on the shelf? Would these people behave differently if the price were on the actual item? This doesn’t make any sense. I suppose some people just grab items off the shelf and then look at the price only when they are at the cash register. In that scenario, individual price tags are actually enabling an annoying and financially unsound behavior.
4.) Could you explain how this “costs customers more”, apart from the poorly constructed arguments I’ve refuted above?
Finally, your diatribe ended with this lovely nugget:
Has any of what I’ve written (typed in the English language, no less) resonated with you, or maybe altered your perception of the people you’re condemning here, or are you still sure that anyone who disagrees with you on this is a “dumb”, “stupid” part of an “infestation”? You sound like the one who is “threatened” by an alternate view.
@cef21: I’ve found that all too often the editors here default to an attitude that flatly can’t accept companies are out to do anything than unfairly screw over consumers. I hope it’s a shtick, but unfortunately I think they honestly feel that way.
@freejazz38: Why do I get the feeling that your offline communications are done with letters cut out of magazines and pasted on construction paper?
Do you mean to tell me that there are states where they still put price tags on food items? I haven’t seen anything in a NH supermarket with a price tag on it since the 80′s.
I always shop the the unit price tag anyway, and I do actually watch every item go through the scanner to make sure it rings up correctly. I also keep a running total in my head (within $5 or so) so I know when I’ve reached the limit of my budget.
I don’t think people are reading this quite correctly. The individual prices on the items are the ones that are being eliminated not the shelf sign.
I used to work at Shaws in MA. I had to schedule a crew of about 10 people to work overnight to change prices and only change prices once a week this took about 60 man hours to accomplish.
Think about it how would you like to change the price of thousands of cans of Fancy Feast Cat food from 65cents to 3/2.00. It can take a huge amount of time and this expense is naturally going to be passed onto the consumer.
Here in Washington state, I haven’t seen price tags on items for about 20 years.
In fact, I remember losing my first job because the store I worked at went to a all UPC code price system.
Wow – in the major chains, I haven’t seen a price tag on each individual item for YEARS! I’m surprised nobody here has mentioned that yet.
In Japan, this is already the case. The prices are written on small placards in front of the food and are not on the food items themselves. It’s not that big a deal as few people look at the price on the product once it’s put in the cart. If you can’t price compare by looking at a sign in front of the food and have to have a sticker on the food, I’m not sure what your problem is.
Grocery and retail stores would be able to lay off 20 to 30% of their workforce if this law passes… this would jump the unemployment rate significantly.
As if the rich haven’t shit on the poor enough… they are going to have the companies they have stock in lay off thousands of their minimum wage workers just to increase their stock’s value a little bit.
Here in Michigan the job market is so bad that people with bachelors degrees are fighting over jobs for minimum wage as cashiers at retailers.
I can say that here in New Jersey, they just require us to put the price on the shelf. That said, I believe it’s state law that the price tag must also show the unit price of the product.
Our state does not appear to have an accurate pricing law per se, but I’m pretty sure it falls under standard policies requiring merchants to charge the lowest price posted. In any case, a lot of the grocery stores around here will give you one item for free.
In regards to Massachusetts, I believe that if the Commonwealth wants to pass or repeal a law requiring individually pricing products, then they have the right to do so.
@Skankingmike:
I save a ton of money this way…by ringing up Pomegranates as Red Apples!
If I see a price tag on an item at my local grocery or drug stores, I immediately think it must be an old item they dug out from behind boxes in the stockroom and I won’t buy it.
They’re not talking about removing the shelf price, but the price sticker on the item itself. A practice that has been the norm in Texas for just about as long as I remember. I remember being a little kid and each item had a price-sticker on it and now you only find said sticker on reduced for quick sale items. I wouldn’t panic as it’s not the end of the world, it’s just the MA grocers trying to cut back on labor and materials. Shelf stockers can get more work done if they aren’t busy putting price stickers on every goddamn item.
Uh. They do know that a mile consists of 5280ft, right? I seriously doubt a scanner would be nearly a mile away! I mean, how big are these stores???
I wasn’t sure whether this was posted in sarcasm or not, or if it was some kind of joke as I kept reading looking for a punchline.. I haven’t seen prices on the product in decades here in Texas. The big-box retailer I work for has almost no prices on anything unless it’s clearance — it’s all on the shelf. A few retailers even have LED price markers on the shelf that change depending on the hour of the day for special sales. How is MA that far behind??
@IphtashuFitz: Yes, my wife remembers the price of every item we shop for, and she will argue until she gets it. She also will recognize when something’s been stocked incorrectly over the wrong (lower) price tag and will get that price as well. She’s a retail shark.
We’ve never had a problem here in PA getting the price on the shelf, and usually the times that happens is rare.
The nice thing we have now at our local Giant are portable hand scanners that you carry through the store with you. Bring your own bags, scan the items you want at the cart and put it in your bag. When you’re done you walk to a special register and return the scanner and pay what you owe. That’s a hell of a lot faster and easier, and completely negates this problem as you see the scanned price on your scanner when you’re at the shelf.
Stores in Kentucky already do this – and you absolutely have to write down the prices of everything on your grocery list as you go along – because they will ALWAYS scan at least one thing if not more things for a higher price than is posted on the shelf, which is actually against the law here. The price posted on the shelf is the one they are required to give you, and you will have to argue with them about it when it scans differently – every time. It’s a complete hassle.