An Aldi Price Tag Change Is Coming—Here's What You Need To Know

As we round out 2024, one thing is abundantly clear: we’re living in an age where technology is beginning to touch every aspect of our lives. This year alone, we’ve seen fast food chains moving to AI-led drive-thrus, big box stores automating the receipt scanning process at the door, and even a Sam’s Club store that is getting rid of checkout lines altogether.

Even if all grocery stores aren’t going digital-only (yet), many are embracing electronic shelf labels (ESL) in place of paper price tags. Walmart began testing digital shelf labels earlier this year and says that the electronic labels will give employees more time to support customers because the prices can be changed remotely, rather than having to manually change every individual tag in the store. Additionally, Walmart says the labels will make restocking easier because each digital label has an LED light that its employees can turn on to make finding that item on the shelf easier.

With many stores moving to these digital systems, Instacart is rolling out its Carrot Tags technology to more retailers—including Aldi, Schnucks, Gelson’s, and Hornbacher’s.

What Are Instacart's Carrot Tags?

Similar to Walmart's technology for restocking shelves, Instacart’s Carrot Tags connect to a store’s existing ESL to provide multiple functionalities that make grocery shopping easier for Instacart employees.

The software has a “Pick to Light” option where Instacart shoppers select a requested item in the app, and the light on the ESL of the corresponding item is illuminated. This makes items easier to find, which means fewer order mistakes are made, and orders are fulfilled more efficiently.

Additionally, after the Aldi implementation, its vice president said the Carrot Tags have positive impacts on the grocery store employees as well.

"We see the value Carrot Tags offer as they help Instacart shoppers to be more independent when fulfilling online orders, allowing our associates to focus on store operations and providing excellent customer service," said Scott Patton. "Our business model is based on efficiency, and Instacart's enterprise technologies are just another way for us to enhance the customer experience while reducing costs and passing along savings to customers."

While the Carrot Tags mainly impact Instacart shoppers, stores also have the opportunity to use the tag’s other functionalities. The tags “can display key attribute information, including dietaries, merchandising, or certifications,” according to Instacart, which would benefit all customers using the ESL.

What Does Instacart Carrot Tags Mean for Dynamic Pricing?

The rise of ESLs has caused concern over dynamic pricing in grocery stores. Kroger has already been accused of changing its grocery prices depending on the day of the week or the weather outside.

Instacart’s Carrot Tags do offer stores the option for “price optimization,” which allows stores to have “instant and accurate pricing changes with dynamic price and promotion optimization strategies.” However, it’s not clear if Aldi or any other retailers using Carrot Tags are employing the dynamic pricing feature.

Kroger and Wendy's have defended dynamic pricing, with Kroger saying it’s meant “to lower prices more for customers where it matters most." So, even though many of us associate "dynamic pricing" with surge pricing—like on a rideshare app during rush hour—hopefully, stores implementing the feature are using it to promote a flash sale rather than jack the prices up right before a big storm.

What we do know is that only time will tell how these ESLs will impact grocery shopping in the future as they come to more and more stores.