- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
You must log in or register to comment.
Bit late for surge pricing concerns
The second-best time for concern is now.
Ralph’s in SoCal used to be a midrange grocery store. These days, its prices are sometimes higher than Whole Foods! I feel like most large grocery chains are moving to a premium price point. They aren’t interested in providing food for everyday families
I bet they are responding to the prices in the shopping services apps.
Ralph’s and Kroger are the same company, FYI.
That’s my point!
Who said AI was gonna put people out of jobs? Look here, a whole new industry of gig work where people can market themselves as “best buyers”. Is your Kroger algorithm fucking you over with horrible prices? Not to worry, with a low low subscription fee, you’ll have access to our best buyers whose meticulously curated profiles will buy your items for you with guaranteed lowest price every time. They’ll even deliver it to your door for a small fee, or upgrade to our premium plus preferred plan for unlimited free deliveries. We also offer a comprehensive algorithm consulting service to help you reshape your algorithm for optimum purchasing power. Be the best buyer your can be ;) /SARCASM
This hits like a cyberpunk dystopia
That is some Philip K Dick reality right there.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this became a reality in 10 years
I will be surprised if it isn’t an established thing by then.
Looks like I’m finally going to have to start wearing the ol’ anti facial recognition makeup
Curious to see if anti-recognition causes the prices to go down or up.
Broke: disrupting your appearance to confuse cameras
Woke: disrupting security cameras by carrying a hammer
(Disclaimer I know that’s not really feasible for most people afraid of going to jail)
can’t wait for the absolutely bonkers technique arms race between corporate facial recognition tech devs and makeup artist cyberpunks
The high cost of being poor strikes again.
Kroger is the largest grocery store chain in the U.S. by revenue and owns a number of different brands, including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Pick’n Save, Food 4 Less, and Dillions, among a host of others
Kroger told Gizmodo… “customers are shopping more with Kroger now than ever because we are fighting inflation and providing great value.”
… or maybe customers don’t have much of a choice ?
“customers are shopping more with Kroger now than ever because we are fighting inflation and providing great value.”
I call shenanigans. I don’t always pay close attention to the prices of all the things I buy, but one thing I do pay attention on is soda. (Probably because it’s bad for me, so I give myself additional justification to buy it or not.)
And amidst all this “inflation”, and all the talk about lowering prices back down to reasonable levels Kroger’s price just on soda just jumped 25%.
Years ago I used to get a 12-pack for $5, and sometimes there’d be a 3-for-$12 deal. When COVID hit, it was 3-for-$15. Post-COVID, $7 a box. When they raised it to $8, I stopped buying it unless it’s on sale or if my wife specifically requests it, and then I only buy one.
Then I went to Kroger a few weeks ago, and the only way to get a price under $8/box was to sign up for something on their app and sell them my personal information. So I decided not to buy from Kroger anymore.
This week my wife specifically requested a box, I was in Kroger anyway, and now it’s $10/box or 3-for-$8. Fuck that. They hit their limit with me, and there are no circumstances in which I’m paying that much for soda.
Soda in general has increased across the board, but 12 for $8 is ridiculous since that’s basically vending machine levels (I can find local vending machines for $0.75/can).
At Costco, I can get a 35-pack for about $18, less if it’s on sale, which is still pretty expensive, but way less than the grocery store (basically ~$6/12-pack). Just a few years ago it was around $0.25/can, and now it’s $0.50 in bulk, which is a huge shift.
2-liter prices are still pretty reasonable, so it seems the price increase is mostly for the packaging, not the product.
I live in a major city. The nearest Kroger is 2 blocks away. The nearest non-kroger is 7 miles away. And I have to drive past 3 Kroger’s to get there. It’s ridiculous.
I go to Walmart and Food Lion because I worked for Kroger and I hate them.
Most of Kroger’s other brands operate in areas where there isn’t a Kroger. There’s a tiny exception with Harris Teeter but it’s mostly because it isn’t profitable to change the signs, I guess.
If Walmart isn’t trying to implement similar technology, I will be very surprised. They just haven’t had to be public about it yet.
Walmart hasn’t even updated to nfc use yet, that goes for Walmart and Lowe’s Home Improvement. No idea on Sam’s. I don’t shop there.
I don’t know why, but it has to be some internal reason they don’t trust it.
Is it that they don’t trust it or is it that they are waiting until they have a fully-realized plan before they spend the money to implement it.
As far as Sam’s, we shop there and once you check out, they don’t check your receipt anymore. They just wave you past them to the exit. I don’t even know why they’re standing by the exit anymore beyond some bureaucratic thing where they just haven’t gotten around to eliminating the job yet.
Neither. They want people to use Walmart Pay so that they can avoid all fees and have complete control. Using NFC means using one of the other pay services that they don’t control.
There’s a point of diminishing returns with Walmart Pay. Eventually they will reach a point where the sign-ups will drop to a trickle and I think they are aware of that. So I think they will have this ready when they know Walmart Pay is no longer enough.
Fortunately, there’s a competing brand in my area that’s not under Kroger (or Walmart or Target), so I can easily avoid them. My local grocery isn’t a mom-and-pop, but it doesn’t extend that far outside of my state, so that’s nice.
Time to invent The Shopping Mask.
What’s wild is I’m not even mad about this to some extent. Like personalized price adjustments just feels like better couponing. Its just the fact the majority of people’s food needs are met by for profit companies means that the well being of their customers are not even on the table of shit they track for.
Worse yet, we KNOW they are selling this data and our privacy is 100% not a concern of theirs either.
If my local grocery coop, farmers market did this, and gave reasonable efforts to keep their systems local, secure, data lean, and optional. I wouldn’t even be mad. This is none of those things and done, again, by people that would crush orphans for profit if there was a market for it.
Any kind of surge pricing by for profit companies providing basic needs should be illegal full stop
Any kind of surge pricing
by for profit companies providing basic needsshould be illegal full stopFixed that for you
I think there stands a case to have discount surge pricing on cheque days for example to ease the burden of poverty framing the “surge” as increased store volume opposed to prices but yea now that I type it out a different term is needed lol
Everyone should enter these stores dressed up like it’s Payday (the video game) until they stop with this facial recognition nonsense.
Yes facial masks, IR glasses, and hats at every store that does this
until they stop
They will never stop unless they are forced to stop.
They will choose to stop if it doesn’t make them money. 😀
But yes, not allowing them to do this in the first place would be a very reasonable thing to fight for.
I’m going to get reflectacles. They’re a little pricey, but they’re much less itchy than balaclavas.
If someone hasn’t made a 3D printable model for IR glasses I think I may make one this weekend.
With a model file, 20 cents of filament, a few LEDs, some wire, and a watch battery these could be made DIY for a few dollars after the printer cost. You can get a decent 3D printer for 200 bucks these days.
They won’t be as stylish, but they’d do the job just fine.
Honestly, I don’t want to manage a battery. I would maybe be okay with it if I could recharge it wirelessly (set it on one of those wireless phone chargers or whatever), but that’s a bit outside DIY ATM.
But yeah, spending $100+ on glasses just to piss off some security guards is a bit steep. I’m at a point where I can absolutely afford it for the lulz, but that’s a pretty big ask for the type of person who would be racially profiled away from the store. I wish I could just grab any pair of glasses ($10 or whatever) and spray on some kind of coating to get IR reflectivity. Maybe that exists, I just don’t know enough about it.
But yeah, spending $100+ on glasses just to piss off some security guards is a bit steep.
not the security guards. they don’t care about the, and this has nothing to do with security.
It’s about breaking the automated tracking system.
And who reviews the anomalies?
Cool, I’ll continue not buying from them.
Woof. The logo was always a hint about what they were planning to do to the customers. First the K and the G came for the letter o…and I did nothing because I am not the letter o.
Kroger and Safeway have been the absolute face of enshittification since the pandemic. They’ve also been accused of price fixing, and are trying to merge into a monopoly. They also regularly abuse disabled employees (at multiple stores in my area).
I have absolutely no doubt that they will do this the moment they think they can get away with it. In a fair economy, they would have been driven out of business years ago.
Not just accused, admitted to.
They also renamed a bunch of locations from Safeway > FreshMart and laid off career employees with years of raises and benefits and forced them to reapply under the new franchise name. Same owners, same stores, but LOOPHOLE.
Fucking assholes.
That’s so dirty and unethical. I hope their conscience tortures them for years, but I realize that’s wishful thinking since there is a good chance they’ve so completely repressed any concept of ethics or morality that they would sell their own mother into slavery for an extra tenth of a penny.
Trader Joe’s, aldi, and small private stores from now on. Go fuck yourselves Kroeger.
Right because this won’t spread…
I only have one smaller chain grocery store in my area, and it’s half snake oil targeted to old hippies. It’s also three to four times as expensive because old hippies apparently have money?
I wish we would get an Aldi’s.
If ethical reasons are a concern, you might want to avoid Trader Joe’s as well on account of their union busting activities.
They’re also one of the companies trying to destroy the NLRB.
AND they actively steal small brand recipes and ideas, then have a contract manufacturer churn it out at a cheaper price.
I hear you. I agree that union busting is bad. I support trader joes employees unionizing. I don’t want their stores to close and those employees to be out of a job.
Any employer that’s a union buster deserves to be boycotted until they close and something better comes along to fill the need (which it will do quickly). In truth, the grocery supply chain/warehousing being so strongly coupled with the supermarkets is the primary point of inertia in the US regarding grocery stores opening where they’re needed. Most independent distributors only focus on restaurant contracts, because they can achieve higher margins there.
Edit: Not that coop distribution doesn’t exist. For example https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Wholesale_Grocers who are represented by the teamsters in four of their distribution centers.
Not everyone lives in a big city with multiple options.
Traitor Joe’s is more like it
Curious as to what the union’s demands are. It’s my impression that Trader Joe’s treats their employees relatively well. I have multiple friends who work for them and are paid a living wage (in the Bay Area of all places) for working reasonable hours.
Trader Joe’s changed their stance during the pandemic and are aggressively fighting unionization. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trader-joes-attorney-nlrb-unconstitutional_n_65b41e7ae4b014b873b11cc2 https://inthesetimes.com/article/trader-joes-union-organizing-fight
Scumbags
If a company genuinely cares about their employees, they’d support them unionizing.
Agreed
Aldi is so rad and they have the best chocolate.
Those chocolate peanut butter cups are crack. I’m sad that people at my location have realized that, because they are sold out a third of the time.
That Burnt Caramel Sea Salt though. The best!
I already don’t shop at my local Kroger owned store because they’re anti union cuntfucks, this is just icing on the cake to never enter their stores ever again.
I’m anti Kroger - my wife and daughter both worked there after the pandemic. They’re definitely union around here but they’ve negotiated the worst wages in the area. You make $13/hr and still have to pay dues.
I thought Kroger employees had a union. Does this one not?
Most are unionized but not all. Kroger’s union is also just not very good. I never met a union rep that wasn’t friends with management. They do very little to actually represent workers. Also, Kroger has such a high turnover rate that newer employees will usually vote to approve any contract that gives them a raise, no matter how small.
These contracts last for a few years, so as other retailers raise wages to compete with each other, Kroger workers are stuck in their old contract until it expires. If anything, Kroger’s union results in lower wages for the workers compared to other grocery retailers.
UFCW is further weakened by “right-to-work” laws that give union benefits to non-union employees. In my experience, many of the people who opt out of union membership are brainwashed by conservatism and are anti-union. They are also often the people who stay at Kroger the longest.
In addition, Kroger has dozens of “districts”, each with their own contract. These contracts are all negotiated at different times so that if there is a strike, Kroger can send managers from other districts and hire scabs until the strike is over. This prevents strikes from ever really hurting Kroger’s bottom line.
So, to answer your question, Kroger is technically unionized but it’s union is pretty ineffective. Kroger basically operates the same as Walmart or Meijer but with a handful of union policies that they have to follow or they might get fined for a union violation.
With that being said, I am still very pro union. The above is just based on my own experience, having worked there for too many years.
Honestly if there’s one union I’d opt-out of it’s UFCW. They’re either in bed with the corporations or so inept at what they do, that you’re better off at a non-union job.
