Kroger's Plan to Use Facial Recognition Raises Concerns About Surge Pricing

Trader Joe’s, aldi, and small private stores from now on. Go fuck yourselves Kroeger.
- If ethical reasons are a concern, you might want to avoid Trader Joe's as well on account of their union busting activities.
  
  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.
  
  They're also one of the companies trying to destroy the NLRB.
  
  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.
- Aldi is so rad and they have the best chocolate.
  
  That Burnt Caramel Sea Salt though. The best!
  
  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.
- 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.
- Right because this won't spread...

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.
- 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.
- Not just accused, admitted to.
  https://www.commondreams.org/news/kroger-egg-prices

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
- 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.
- This hits like a cyberpunk dystopia

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.
- 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.
- 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.

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 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.
- 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.

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 needs~~ should be illegal full stop
  Fixed 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

Now would be a good time to start a line of headwear that has infrared leds to shield your face from cameras.
- IR-Cloak is a wrap around frame designed to shield the maximum amount of your eye measurements from being captured on technology using infrared for illumination or mapping/scanning. With adjustable nose pads and flexible silicone temple ends, IR-Cloak is extremely comfortable and accommodating to all facial features.
  Frame is not reflective to cameras (works with IR-blocking lenses only)
  Infrared blocking lenses turn black on infrared cameras to remove critical eye measurements
  Blocks 3D infrared facial mapping (iPhone Face ID) & infrared iris scanning during day & night
  ☞ https://www.reflectacles.com/order/ircloak
  https://www.reflectacles.com/order/ghost
  
  Appreciate the info and link, but $168 for what is essentially a few dollars of SOLAS tape and a pair of IR laser safety glasses? Bruh.
  
  Hm. I wonder if I could get those lenses in my prescription. That would be neat.
  
  But I already wear glasses. What about a ball cap?
- As an asshole that deserves the highest price hahahaha

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!

The high cost of being poor strikes again.

- I don't understand what exactly about it gave you hope.
  
  Indeed.
  60 years ago we were supposed to having to work very little by now thanks to automation, then automation came and instead of the productivity gains of it ending up spread across society, what happenned instead was that the extra productivity went just pushed up dividend and CxO pay higher and due to the reduced need for workers due to automation the purchasing power of salaries actually went down (for example, in the US the percentage of corporate revenues that went to pay salaries fell from 23% in the 70s down to 7% by 2014).
  Expecting that, under the exact system that's been moving us more and more towards Dystopia with each wave of automation, AI would somehow end up making things better for most people rather than better just for the Owner Class and worse for part or most of the rest, is pretty ill-informed and naive.
  
  Today I dumped some ancient Windows CE source code into it and asked it to generate a picture of what the screens would have looked like in the app, and it showed me.
- So was blockchain. And self-driving cars. And 3D printing. And carbon capture. And fusion power. And biofuels.

Time to invent The Shopping Mask.

Everyone should enter these stores dressed up like it's Payday (the video game) until they stop with this facial recognition nonsense.
- 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.
- Yes facial masks, IR glasses, and hats at every store that does this

Don't they teach market research in business schools?
Do they realize how unpopular this is and week cost them market share?
Then again, what choices will there really be if this is the trend with all big retailers.
- My town has three stores, Kroger, Safeway, and Walmart. As one goes so go they all most likely on this one so idk how I’d even begin to think about avoiding this longer term…
  
  I'm lucky enough to have a WinCo nearby, but I'm not sure how widespread they are
- If they can prove our that it is just acceptable enough they know competition will follow suit and they can enjoy the increased margins then.

Looks like I'm finally going to have to start wearing the ol' anti facial recognition makeup
- can't wait for the absolutely bonkers technique arms race between corporate facial recognition tech devs and makeup artist cyberpunks
- 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)

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.

Cool, I'll continue not buying from them.

Bit late for surge pricing concerns
- The second-best time for concern is now.

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.