New Jersey is becoming the latest battleground in the national debate over digital pricing in grocery stores. A new poll released by a coalition of labor unions, including the United Food and Commercial Workers Locals and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, reveals that a bipartisan majority of Garden State voters favor a ban on electronic shelf labels and so-called surveillance pricing.
“This predatory technology breaches personal privacy, drives up prices for families and threatens good union jobs,” says UFCW International Vice President Ademola Oyefeso. “As large corporations, such as Walmart, rush to roll out ESLs across their stores, New Jersey lawmakers have the opportunity to ban this technology before it’s too late. This poll proves that New Jerseyans understand the dangers of surveillance pricing and expect their lawmakers to act.”
The survey, conducted by GBAO Strategies, indicates that 65% of New Jerseyans support proposed legislation to prohibit the technology. The data suggests deep-seated consumer anxiety regarding corporate transparency, as 67% of respondents stated they do not trust grocery stores to use ESL technology responsibly, while 61% think the transition to digital tags will lead to higher grocery prices.
A Growing Legislative Movement
The push for a ban is gaining momentum in the New Jersey State House, led by Sen. Joseph Cryan and Assemblyman Chigozie Onyema. Supporters of the legislation argue that ESLs enable surveillance pricing — a practice where retailers use shoppers’ personal data to set individualized prices that can fluctuate instantaneously.
“Electronic shelf labels enable large corporations to use shoppers’ personal data to squeeze them for every last dollar,” Oyefeso says. “Amid persistent high inflation, the last thing families need is for grocery prices to rise even higher.
“New Jersey has a chance to get ahead of this predatory practice before it becomes common practice,” he adds. “UFCW applauds the lawmakers who are standing up for consumers and workers against this corporate exploitation and urges them to pass this legislation before the session’s end.”
The labor coalition also highlights the impact on the workforce, noting that these systems threaten to replace the roles of grocery clerks and force front-line workers to manage consumer frustration over volatile pricing.
Additional findings from the poll show:
- 61% of New Jersey voters think ESLs, and 67% think surveillance pricing, will cause grocery prices to increase.
- Support for proposed legislation in the state cuts across party lines, with 65% in favor of banning this technology in grocery stores.
- Retailers cannot be trusted to do the right thing, with 67% of respondents saying they don’t trust grocery stores to use the technology responsibly.
- More than 75% of New Jerseyans have a negative view of U.S. economy, with 73% worried about the cost of groceries for their household and 70% expecting the amount they spend on groceries to increase in the next year.
- ESLs enable retailers to change prices instantaneously, and corporations are racing to deploy them. Walmart, for example, plans to replace traditional paper price tags with digital ones across all of its stores by the end of 2026. The corporation also recently secured patents to use shoppers’ personal data to update prices at scale.
- ESLs also threaten the livelihoods of grocery workers. These systems could replace the skilled work of grocery clerks or, at the very least, leave them to explain a company’s actions to rightfully angry shoppers. UFCW represents more than 800,000 grocery workers across North America.
National Context
New Jersey’s legislative push is part of UFCW’s broader “Affordable Groceries and Good Jobs Campaign,” which has seen 12 states take aim at artificial intelligence-driven technology in the retail sector. The movement comes as major retailers accelerate their digital transitions; notably, Walmart recently announced plans to replace paper tags with digital versions across all locations by 2026.
With 70% of New Jerseyans expecting their grocery bills to increase over the next year, the debate over who controls the price on the shelf — and how often it can change — is set to remain a focal point for lawmakers through the end of the session.
This latest update follows previous coverage of the escalating tension between retail modernization and consumer protection:
- Walmart and Unions Clash Over Future Digital Price Tags — A look at the labor concerns and corporate motivations behind the nationwide rollout of ESLs.
- Poll: New Yorkers Want Full Ban on Digital Tags; Maryland Passes Landmark Privacy Law — An exploration of similar consumer sentiment in New York and the first successful legislative restrictions in Maryland.
- Maryland Says No to Surveillance Pricing — Deep dive into the poll results that fueled Maryland’s landmark stance against data-driven grocery pricing.
