Item Pricing in New York State

Abstract

misconceptions. Most have focused on the level of accuracy in supermarket pricing systems and consumer perceptions regarding the importance of pricing individual items on supermarket shelves. Contained within the Agriculture and Markets Law, the requirement of item pricing in New York State was first adopted in 1976. Due to expire on December 31, 1989, the most recent version of the law was extended through June 30, 1991. The intent of limiting the life of the law was to, " ...permit the legislature to observe and study the economies and efficiencies of the laser scanning system...". With the current law due to expire, it seemed appropriate that the "economies and efficiencies" of laser scanning technology be "observed and studied" to determine the impact the law has had on the food industry. Furthermore, an examination of the current perceptions held by the public regarding item pricing seemed timely. To address this issue, a multi-phase study was conducted which focused on three related concerns regarding item pricing: 1) The accuracy of supermarket pricing systems

2) Consumer's perceptions of the importance of item pricing

3) The related costs to supermarkets associated with item pricing. Sixteen supermarkets representing ten supermarket chains were selected by Cornell University and subsequently participated in the study. Of the 16 supermarkets, 12 were scanning stores and 4 were non-scanning. Four of the scanning supermarkets operated with either partial or total price removal.