Is this the end for the yellow label discounts?

If you’re worried about artificial intelligence (AI) coming for your job, there’s more bad news – it could also be the death of the yellow sticker.

Yes, those yellow discount stickers we all love to hunt for while grocery shopping, often shaving a significant amount off the weekly bill.

Supermarkets use the magic tag to help sell food or drinks nearing their sell-by date, reducing food waste and offering savvy shoppers a bargain.

Now however, AI is being employed to help better manage stocks to make sure fewer products reach that sweet nearly-off borderline. And if they do, digital price tags on shelves, or even the product itself, automatically reduce the price, but with no fanfare.

This means there’ll be no need for staff to break out the yellow sticker gun, because AI will have already changed the label – which could make it harder for shoppers to spot bargains.

One firm producing such smart price tags, Wasteless, is already supplying stores in Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

‘Our model gauges the risk of a certain item expiring on the shelf rather than being sold, and makes the decision as to whether a markdown is required or not,’ said David Kat, the Israeli firm’s senior vice president of business development.

Speaking to the BBC, he added: ‘The data we help generate can also help retailers better understand how to manage stock replenishment and avoid over-ordering. So we’re actually turning the current food waste problem into an opportunity.’

Food waste is responsible for around 8% of annual greenhouse gas emissions, the same as the tourism industry. One report found UK retailers produce around 300,000 tonnes of food waste every year. 

Reducing the amount of food sent to landfill instead of being eaten is a vital step towards combatting the climate crisis – but in a cost of living crisis, people also want bargains.

With AI constantly changing the price of a product depending on how much is left and when it goes off, will customers know if they’re getting a good deal?

Pricing expert Matt Wills warns it could cause confusion.

‘With a lack of clarity on what the reference price is, consumers might not realise they are getting a deal at all,’ he said, speaking to the BBC. ‘This could also lead to unpredictability of prices, causing added complications for people on a budget squeeze, if items are seen to be continually changing in price.’

Mr Wills, co-founder of pricing advisory service Acumen, added: ‘There’s also a risk of price discrimination, with products that are more popular in certain stores ending up having prices pushed up because of higher demand in that area.

‘So, rather than helping consumers, AI-driven pricing could have adverse effects, for example seeing pensioners pay more for certain products because they live in a predominantly retired town with a similar consumer demographic.’

Wasteless has said it is already in advanced negotiations with ‘three household name British retailers’, while Asda has already trialled digital price tags from French firm SES-Imagotag, while UK company Displaydata AI tags are already used by the German supermarket Kaufland.  

So, is AI coming whether we like it or not?

With retailers able to add 10% to their fresh food revenues, according to one study, it seems likely many more will adopt a digital approach and wave goodbye to the yellow sticker.

However, retail expert Sabrina Benjamin thinks the change will be worthwhile.

‘Digital price tags are definitely more sophisticated than the yellow sticker approach,’ she told the BBC. ‘The flexibility it creates and the ease to change prices, means the retailer can provide greater benefits and discounts to the consumer… and influence traffic to their store.’

But will shoppers visit their store if there are no yellow stickers to hunt for? That remains to be seen.

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