this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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Grocery is already going online, look at all the companies sponsoring youtube vids. The margins for what you're describing are, at the absolute best, razor-thin.
E-tags draw significantly more profit from things like one-day (loss leader) flash sales, or in-store specials, or other conventional retail pricing tactics.
Take a 4-hour sale on some popular product, put an ad up on Instagram to get people in your store on the way home from work and you make a mint. You don't need E-tags to do that, but it means that you don't have to pay someone to change out the paper tags on that product twice in their shift.
You're getting distracted by the least likely way they'll fuck you over, when they're just sticking to tried-and-true collusion.
The margins in grocery are razor thin. It's a volume game..usually they have your cash before they need to pay the supplier with 30 days payment pretty standard in business.
I'm not saying they won't do all you're suggesting. I'm saying they'll do both. Unless we prevent them with regulations and fines.