A recent investigation by Consumer Reports (CR) and its research partner, Groundwork Collaborative, suggests that grocery delivery giant Instacart has been implementing AI-led dynamic pricing experiments that, in some instances, have drastically inflated the cost of certain products for consumers. The study found that some shoppers were paying as much as 23% more than others for the exact same item.
These pricing experiments reportedly took place at various retail partner locations accessible through the Instacart platform, including major chains like Kroger, Albertsons, Costco, and Safeway. The findings, detailed in a recent study, highlight a significant discrepancy in pricing that could impact consumer budgets.
The software at the heart of these experiments is Eversight, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product. Instacart's own Eversight page describes it as a retail pricing suite designed to "unlock revenue growth" for grocers and to "uncover optimal prices your customers expect." While Instacart acknowledges on this page that some shoppers "may see slightly higher prices" than others, the Consumer Reports study indicates that these increases are far from "slight," reaching up to 23%.
When approached for comment, Instacart directed TechCrunch to a previously released statement. In this statement, the company asserted that "just as retailers have long tested prices in physical stores to understand what resonates with customers, a small subset of our retail partners — 10 U.S. retail partners that already choose to apply markups — use Instacart’s Eversight technology to run limited online pricing tests." This suggests Instacart views these practices as an extension of traditional retail strategies.
Dynamic pricing, where product prices fluctuate based on various factors like demand, time of day, or individual user data, has become increasingly common across e-commerce platforms. Instacart is not alone in facing scrutiny over these practices. Another recent report claimed that Amazon's use of dynamic pricing led to U.S. school districts paying higher prices for basic school supplies. Amazon, however, has since dismissed that report as "flawed and misleading."
