The deployment

What UK supermarkets are doing

None of these supermarkets has admitted to surge-pricing essentials. The hardware that makes it possible is being installed across the major estates today.

Morrisons

Installed: 10.8 million electronic shelf labels across all 497 stores from early 2026.
Public statements: Press release frames it as efficiency and price-accuracy; no mention of personalised pricing.
Regulatory: No regulator finding to date. CMA has flagged dynamic pricing for further work under the DMCCA 2024.

Source: Morrisons press release, October 2025

Co-op

Installed: Digital labels across all 2,400 stores by end-2026.
Public statements: Statement emphasises operational efficiency and price-change accuracy.
Regulatory: No regulator finding to date.

Source: Co-op statement, May 2025

Asda

Installed: Live facial recognition trial in five Greater Manchester stores (March 2025); thousands of digital labels across Asda Express.
Public statements: Trial framed as theft prevention. Asda has not publicly admitted to demand-based personalised pricing.
Regulatory: The 2025 trial generated 5,425 customer complaints and an Information Commissioner complaint from Big Brother Watch.

Source: Big Brother Watch complaint

Sainsbury’s

Installed: Trialling digital shelf-edge labels in “Future Store” pilots.
Public statements: Framed as a customer-experience refresh.
Regulatory: No regulator finding to date.

Source: Press coverage, 2025

Southern Co-op

Installed: Facewatch live facial recognition across a number of South Coast stores; investigated by ICO.
Public statements: Statement framed it as anti-shoplifting. Project began in 2020.
Regulatory: ICO found in March 2023 that the deployment breached UK data protection law on multiple counts.

Source: ICO decision, March 2023

Phase 2 will cover Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Waitrose and M&S in equivalent detail. If you have authoritative primary-source updates, email us — we’ll add them.

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