Printing, sticking, and stamping prices: rebalancing power between manufacturers and retailers

Chapter 5 addresses two major interrelated developments in price display: the development of “item pricing” as a way of bridging the gap between shelf prices and checkout operations, and the development of various supportive technologies, such as price pens, price labelers and price stamper. Not only did these technologies help stabilize prices and allow them to travel with the goods, but they also enhanced prices with quality information, thanks to the graphic possibilities associated with the new technology of paper stickers. The technique was soon transferred to “price guns”, allowing direct labeling (and relabeling) of prices on every product in the store. The expression “price gun” emphasizes the replacement of negotiable prices by prices that appear as “take it or leave it” ultimatums. These imposed fixed prices are distinctive features of the contemporary economy; they favor the brand logic and express the new managerial control over previous “free” price adjustments.