During three years of stubborn inflation many American households cut back on routine purchases at the store.

But amid signs that retail prices have started to drop, some companies are rethinking how they decide what to charge.

Nowly Rogin has more on the new technology that allows retailers to quickly change prices

for items on shelves.

The traditional prices we all see on grocery store shelves

may soon be on their way out,

in favor of what are being called digital shelf labels

or electronic shelf labels.

They have small digital screens where prices can be updated remotely,

sometimes on a daily basis.

Consumer advocates worry that this tech could lead to surge pricing,

seen already with travel, concert tickets, and car sharing

apps like Uber and Lyft.

Last month, Walmart announced that by 2026 more than 2,000 of its stores will have

digitized shelf labels. The largest retailer in the US is now

part of a growing number of companies across the US and Europe using this technology to set prices.

Siddharth Kavale is an e-commerce and retail reporter at Reuters.

Siddhar, thank you so much for joining us.

How do these digital shelf labels work and how common are they in the United States right now?

The digital shelf labels are basically, they look much very much like paper shelf labels,

but they're just small digital screens that will reflect the prices. Generally they use Bluetooth technology

so that they can communicate with mobile devices which can update the prices very easily.

...