Top 5 Retailers Leveraging Real-Time Pricing

Retailers leading the real-time price adjustment

Our report highlights that five retailers now set the pace for pricing velocity. Collectively, they execute hundreds of thousands of price adjustments while their competition catches up with dynamic pricing. These are the platforms defining what it means to compete on price in 2026.

#1. Amazon: Maximum Velocity Model

Amazon has redefined what's possible in algorithmic pricing. With a repricing engine deeply integrated into its AWS infrastructure, the e-commerce giant treats every price as provisional, adjusting millions of product prices daily based on competitor actions, demand signals, inventory levels, and customer behavior. Our data confirms Amazon's position as the undisputed leader in pricing velocity, executing 69% more price changes than its nearest competitor.

What makes Amazon's approach unique is its 100% coverage: every single SKU in our tracking experienced significant price fluctuations. For competitors, this creates an asymmetric challenge – price-matching Amazon is effectively impossible without equivalent algorithmic infrastructure and the willingness to embrace continuous repricing as a core operational philosophy.

With 116,509 price changes and zero price stability, no product in Amazon's catalog keeps a fixed price. The platform's 100% deep discount coverage means every SKU experiences significant price fluctuations, while its nearly balanced direction (50.2% decreases vs. 49.8% increases) suggests algorithmic optimization rather than systematic price inflation. Wednesday emerges as the peak repricing day, indicating a mid-week optimization cycle that competitors should factor into their own pricing strategies.

#2. Walmart: Omnichannel Integration Model

Walmart is making the largest bet on physical retail digitization in U.S. history. Through its partnership with VusionGroup, the retailer is deploying electronic shelf labels across 2,300 stores, with plans to extend to all 4,600 U.S. locations. This infrastructural investment enables something competitors struggle to achieve – true online-offline price parity, with price changes that once took two days now done in minutes.

Unlike Amazon's balanced approach, Walmart's pricing direction tells a consumer-friendly story – 53% of all price movements are decreases. This supports the company's public positioning that dynamic pricing serves customers instead of exploiting them. It’s a narrative that may prove strategically valuable as regulatory scrutiny intensifies across the industry.

Walmart's 68,926 price changes position it as the second most active repricing platform, though its strategy differs drastically from Amazon's. The 53% downward price direction, the most consumer-favorable ratio among the top 5, aligns with Walmart's "everyday low price" brand promise. The company's ESL infrastructure investment has reduced price change cycles from two days to minutes, a 99%+ efficiency gain. Monday is Walmart's peak repricing day, suggesting a weekly promotional reset that kicks off each shopping week.

#3. Kroger: Data-Driven Grocery Model

Kroger pioneered real-time pricing in the grocery sector and is now navigating the regulatory consequences. Since launching its EDGE (Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment) shelf technology in 2018 through a Microsoft partnership, the nation's largest supermarket operator has deployed the system across 500+ stores, establishing itself as the grocery industry's most aggressive adopter of dynamic pricing technology.

However, Kroger's data profile raises questions among regulators. With a slight upward pricing bias (50.8% increases vs. 49.2% decreases) and the company's exploration of facial recognition integration, Kroger faces Congressional scrutiny that other retailers should watch closely. The inquiry by Senators Warren and Casey foreshadow compliance requirements that may eventually apply industry-wide.

Kroger leads the grocery sector with 55,601 price changes, demonstrating aggressive adoption of dynamic pricing in a traditionally stable retail category. The 50% deep discount coverage shows selective discounting rather than Amazon's universal approach, while the slight upward pricing bias (50.8% increases vs. 49.2% decreases) distinguishes Kroger from Walmart's consumer-favorable profile. With 500+ stores now running EDGE Shelf technology and Monday as the peak repricing day, Kroger has established the operational infrastructure for grocery-sector price leadership. And in this position, it has attracted Congressional scrutiny that the industry should monitor closely.

#4. AliExpress: Global Marketplace Model

AliExpress represents the globalization of pricing competition. The Alibaba-owned marketplace demonstrates that U.S. retailers no longer compete solely against domestic rivals – they now face platforms with fundamentally different cost structures, regulatory environments, and pricing philosophies. With a 91.7% deep discount rate (second only to Amazon) and 0% price stability, AliExpress brings aggressive cross-border pricing velocity directly to American consumers.

The platform's inclusion in the top 5 signals a structural shift in competitive dynamics. AliExpress's flash sale model and time-limited deals create constant price volatility designed to drive engagement and urgency. For U.S. retailers competing in overlapping categories, matching this pricing agility may become essential for maintaining market share.

AliExpress recorded 46,462 price changes with a 91.7% deep discount rate, second only to Amazon, demonstrating the aggressive cross-border pricing velocity that Chinese eCommerce platforms bring to global markets. Like Amazon, AliExpress maintains 0% price stability, meaning every tracked product experienced price fluctuations during our study period. The slight upward bias (52.7% increases vs. 47.3% decreases), combined with Monday peak repricing, suggests a weekly flash-sale cycle designed to create urgency and drive engagement across international markets.

#5. Target: Selective Deployment Model

Target proves that dynamic pricing infrastructure doesn't require constant repricing. While competitors race toward maximum pricing velocity, Target has charted a different course that prioritizes brand consistency and "everyday value" positioning over algorithmic aggressiveness. With 41.7% price stability (more than five times higher than Amazon or AliExpress) and 50% of its catalog completely unchanged during our study period, Target demonstrates strategic restraint.

What's particularly distinctive is Target's promotional timing: Saturday emerges as the peak repricing day, making it the only top-5 retailer focused on weekend shoppers rather than the Monday/Wednesday cycles favored by competitors. This approach suggests Target is optimizing for in-store weekend traffic rather than continuous online price competition – a fundamentally different strategic bet that may resonate with retailers prioritizing customer experience over pricing warfare.

Target's 39,386 price changes represent the most restrained approach among the top 5, with 41.7% price stability, over 5 times higher than Amazon or AliExpress. The 16.7% deep discount coverage (lowest in the ranking) and 50% price stability rate indicate deliberate selectivity rather than universal repricing. Most distinctively, Target is the only top-5 retailer where Saturday emerges as the peak repricing day, suggesting optimization for weekend in-store traffic rather than continuous online competition. This measured approach preserves Target's "everyday value" brand positioning while maintaining competitive response capability.

Bottom Line

Real-time pricing has become universal, but its deployment remains highly differentiated. Amazon treats every price as temporary, Target keeps half its catalog untouched, Walmart leans into consumer-friendly decreases, Kroger edges toward margin optimization, and AliExpress brings Chinese eCommerce velocity to a range of doorsteps.

The competitive effects are clear. With Amazon executing 69% more price changes than its nearest rival and maintaining 100% discount coverage across its catalog, the benchmark for pricing infrastructure has been permanently raised. Yet Target's success with selective deployment proves that maximum velocity isn't the only way forward.

Explore the Dynamic Pricing Index to uncover real-time pricing velocity, discount depth, stability rates, and repricing patterns across leading eCommerce players.