Your groceries could soon cost you more depending on the time of day you shop.
Electronic pricing could be the next innovation to hit our supermarkets. This would allow them to change the prices of items instantly – allowing discounts but also price hikes to take place depending on demand.
Instead of the usual paper pricing tags slotted into pockets on the front of shelves, electronic pricing would use digital displays that can then alter the price at the touch of a button.
Neil Mason, of market research firm Mintel, told the BBC: “Retail is really tough nowadays – you’ve got to be quick to respond and e-pricing is the way to do that. It’s about being more efficient and responsive to what is happening in the marketplace.
“They might want to increase prices on certain products because of inflationary pressure, but also might want to decrease prices because of promotions – so it could be good for consumers.”
Supermarkets could charge more for your salad if you buy it first thing in the morning or less for products that are not proving popular and need to be promoted more.
Some experts believe the system would help to reduce food waste, with retailers being able to shift products quickly by easily and instantly reducing their price to make them fly off the shelves.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40423114