Overview
- Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and partners coordinated 437 simultaneous shops and found average basket differences of about 7%, with some item gaps up to 23% and an estimated $1,200 a year impact for a typical family.
- Instacart says the experiments were short-term and randomized, not based on personal or behavioral traits and not real-time dynamic pricing, describing them as tools to help retail partners gauge price sensitivity.
- Following publication of the findings, Instacart said it ended pricing tests on Target’s storefront and stopped experiments with Costco, as major retailers distanced themselves from responsibility for Instacart-listed prices.
- A New York app disclosure states some prices or fees may vary due to randomized tests and that personal information such as delivery address is used to calculate fees, raising questions about consistency with the company’s denials.
- Policy pressure is escalating as Sen. Ruben Gallego proposes the One Fair Price Act to bar pricing based on personal data, several states weigh broader bans, and Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens urges state attorneys general to investigate.