Owens is the preeminent expert on the topic, as CEO and President of the Groundwork Collaborative, and testified to Congress back in August<\/a> about the ways that U.S. consumers are getting gouged. She was Sen. Josh Hawley\u2019s expert witness, which was notable because Republicans aren\u2019t exactly known as the most pro-consumer political party. But Owens has really upset Walmart by talking about things like their new electronic shelf labels and various related patents.<\/p>\n Owens told Gizmodo in an interview last month<\/a> about one of Walmart\u2019s patents for changing prices through shelf labels that are being rolled out nationally. She talked about how \u201cthe example they give is tuna and mayonnaise. Once you have the tuna, they can change the price of mayonnaise.\u201d<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not like you need to take Owens\u2019s word for it. The patents that Walmart has been granted tell the story. She didn\u2019t make them up.<\/p>\n For example, here\u2019s an excerpt from the patent Walmart submitted in 2018, which was granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2023 titled<\/a>, \u201cSystem and method for remote controlling of electronic shelf labels.\u201d<\/p>\n The labels and prices may be changed in a dynamic fashion. For example, for a customer using \u201cscan and go\u201d it may be known what items a customer has in their cart. The price for other items the customer purchases may be varied based on what items are already in the cart, e.g. if a customer has tuna fish, they may be offered a different price for mayonnaise. Prices may also be varied in a dynamic manner based on the supply of the product, low supply+high demand=change in price.<\/p>\n Owens also talked about how companies could use similar tactics to raise the price of ice cream on hot days, something Coca-Cola experimented with in the 1990s to immense public outrage. She writes about numerous other examples in her book, which might be the book of the year.<\/p>\n But Walmart accused Owens of mischaracterizing their plans and said that it doesn\u2019t plan to engage in surveillance pricing. Dan Bartlett, the executive vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart, wrote a long statement on X<\/a> this week that asked Owens to \u201ccorrect the record.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have inaccurately described Walmart\u2019s rollout of digital shelf labels as part of an infrastructure for \u2018real-time dynamic pricing\u2019 and connected this rollout to the possibility of higher prices for ice cream on hot days and soup during snowstorms,\u201d wrote Bartlett. \u201cYou framed these examples as what the technology could enable, but repeatedly using Walmart to illustrate them implies this is where our business is headed. It is not.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartlett, who was White House communications director under President George W. Bush during the start of the Iraq War, said Owens should \u201cpublicly correct these mischaracterizations and clearly share our practices and commitments with the audiences who heard them.\u201d Bartlett insisted that having a patent doesn\u2019t mean the company is going to use the underlying tech.<\/p>\n \u201cA patent describes an invention and potential capabilities,\u201d wrote Bartlett. \u201cIt does not mean that Walmart has deployed a capability, used it with customers or decided to do so in the future. Those conclusions require evidence beyond a patent. The tuna-and-mayonnaise example illustrates the problem. Putting tuna in a customer\u2019s cart does not cause Walmart to charge that customer more for mayonnaise. We do not do that, and we will not.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartlett also insisted that Owens is misleading people about the use of Sparky, the company\u2019s AI helper. Owens released a new report on Oct. 5<\/a> titled \u201cThe Walmart Watchtower: Patents Speak Louder Than Pledges,\u201d about the ways that Walmart has seen returns on its investments, quoting the CEO David Guggina directly, \u201cwhen customers engage with Sparky, their average order value jumps 40%.\u201d<\/p>\n There are other Walmart patents that describe the use of machine learning and adjust prices, as we\u2019ve written about before<\/a>. But Walmart insists that none of these are going to be used to squeeze consumers for money.<\/p>\n Walmart’s customers deserve to know if, how, and when their personal data is being used \u2013 especially when it comes to pricing. It’s time for Walmart to set the record straight.@owenslindsay1<\/a> on @cnn<\/a> breaks down exactly what Walmart should do to regain their customers’ trust. pic.twitter.com\/BfF7P2xOG9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Groundwork Collaborative (@Groundwork) October 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But who are you going to believe? The expert on surveillance pricing or George W. Bush\u2019s former communications director? It\u2019s a very hard choice.<\/p>\n ![\"Patent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/walmart-patent.jpg\")
Patent US11687872B2, a \u201cSystem and method for remote controlling of electronic shelf labels,\u201d granted to Walmart in 2023. \u00a9 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office <\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dan-bartlett-georg-w-bush.jpg\")
Dan Bartlett, counselor to the US President George W. Bush, speaks to reporters at the White House Briefing Room 01 June 2007 after announcing his resignation. \u00a9 Photo by SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n