The humble price sticker may be on its way out at the country’s biggest retailer.

Walmart last week announced plans to adopt “digital shelf labels,” or DSLs, at 2,300 stores—which is around half of its US footprint—by 2026, according to Reuters. The upside, according to the retail giant, is that store employees will now be able to update prices within minutes, speeding up a process that used to take two days and giving them more time to assist customers in other ways.

This may sound like a recipe for embracing dynamic pricing, which is the practice of adjusting prices in real-time, but Walmart stressed that the technology is more about speeding up its existing process for updating tags.

“The DSL program is not designed for dynamic pricing,” Walmart spokesperson Cristina Rodrigues told Retail Brew in a statement. “Walmart adheres to Everyday Low Price. The DSLs make it easier for associates to add pricing on shelves for new products, and update pricing related to planned Rollback and Final Clearance products.”

This isn’t the first time that Walmart has been unequivocal about its stance on dynamic pricing.

Keep reading here.—AV

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Retail sales were below expectations in May, ticking up just 0.1% from the previous month and 2.3% from the year before, according to the latest Census data.

A research note from JPMorgan analysts said that “overall, May was yet another weak month for retailers driven by choppier weather and increasingly cautious consumer sentiment. Indeed, 5/10 categories decelerated on a YoY basis vs. April with the exceptions being autoparts, nonstore, and sporting goods.”

Categories that saw a slowdown last month included furniture, building supplies, and restaurants.

Some economists, however, see the numbers as a blip on the path to normalization in the wake of the pandemic.

Keep reading here.—AV

If you think corporate participation in Pride Month has felt more subdued this year, it’s not just you.

Brands that were more outspoken in previous years have been quieter in 2024 around their support of LGBTQ+ causes and customers, which some have suggested could be due to fears stemming from last year’s Bud Light backlash and other targeted, right-wing campaigns against companies supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

Target, which also faced right-wing backlash over its Pride merch collection last year, scaled back its offerings this year. Skittles, which faced threats of a boycott over its Pride marketing in 2023, is doing a Pride campaign that’s been characterized as more muted than in years past. Kayla Castañeda, senior director for crisis and issues communications at Target, shared a statement that the company is “committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round.” Skittles did not respond to Marketing Brew’s request for comment.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH

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