The Quiet Rise of Algorithmic Price Discrimination at the Supermarket
A recent investigation—and a revealing documentary—pulled back the curtain on a practice most shoppers suspect but rarely see proven: price discrimination in grocery shopping, driven not by inflation alone, but by algorithms watching you.
At the center of the documentary is Instacart and according to this documentary — their pricing technology increasingly determines what consumers pay for everyday items—often without their knowledge or consent.
Same Cart. Same Store. Different Prices.
Researchers ran a simple but telling experiment:
Twenty identical grocery items, selected from the same store, at the same time, through Instacart.
The result?
- One shopper paid $124
- Another paid $114
No coupons. No substitutions. No explanation—except one: algorithmic pricing.
The price differences weren’t random. They correlated with consumer behavior, purchase history, and inferred willingness to pay. In other words, shoppers weren’t paying “the price”—they were paying their price.
How the Technology Works
Instacart’s pricing engine relies on sophisticated tools, including technology from its subsidiary Eversight, designed to:
- Track user behavior
- Analyze past purchases
- Test price sensitivity
- Optimize profits in real time
What shocked investigators was learning that Instacart doesn’t just influence prices online—it manages pricing operations for major retailers, including Target, and conducts live in-store price experiments using electronic shelf labels.
That means prices can quietly change:
- From shopper to shopper
- From moment to moment
- Without human approval
- Without public disclosure
Surveillance Pricing: The New Normal?
This practice—often called surveillance pricing—uses personal data to determine how much a consumer can be charged before they walk away.
The implications are troubling:
- Loyal customers may pay more, not less
- Price transparency becomes meaningless
- Budget-conscious families are penalized for necessity
- Algorithms replace competition as the price setter
Unlike traditional sales or dynamic pricing (like airline tickets), grocery price discrimination affects essential goods—food, household supplies, baby formula.
This isn’t convenience pricing. It’s behavioral exploitation.
Why Consumers Rarely Notice
Most shoppers never see the comparison.
They don’t know what their neighbor paid.
They assume price changes are inflation-driven.
And because the system is proprietary and automated, there’s no human to question—just a receipt that feels a little higher than expected.
What Comes Next: Action Is Needed
The discussion concluded with two urgent calls to action:
1. Independent Price Testing
Consumers are encouraged to run controlled shopping tests:
- Use the same store
- Select the same items
- Choose pickup (to eliminate delivery fees)
- Screenshot basket totals
Collectively, this data can expose patterns that individuals cannot see alone.
2. State-Level Investigations
State attorneys general have subpoena power—and they should use it.
Regulators must demand answers to critical questions:
- How are prices determined?
- What consumer data is used?
- Are protected classes disproportionately impacted?
- Are retailers even aware of price disparities attributed to them?
Without oversight, algorithmic pricing will continue to expand unchecked—quietly reshaping what “fair price” even means.
NOTE: Eye will be sending this information and the documentary to Florida’s Attorney General Blaise Ingoglia and will ask him to investigate these findings to see if this is happening in our grocery stores.
The Bottom Line
Price tags used to be public, visible, and equal.
Now they’re personalized, invisible, and optimized against you.
If groceries are becoming a data-driven guessing game, consumers deserve transparency—and protection—before “smart pricing” becomes just another way families are quietly squeezed at checkout.
Food is not a luxury. And fairness should not be optional.
