Consumer Reports’ investigation revealed that Instacart was conducting AI pricing experiments within the app, with some consumers being charged up to 23% more than others for identical products. While Instacart contested some results at first, the grocery delivery service declared on Monday that it will cease all AI pricing trials. Customers may still observe pricing discrepancies for the same products across various retailers, akin to the variations seen in physical stores, but Instacart will not employ AI to alter the prices displayed in the app during ordering.
“We’ve paid close attention to our customers’ feedback. We acknowledge that the experiments we conducted with a limited number of retail partners, which led to differing prices for identical items at the same store, were off-base for some shoppers,” the company stated in a blog entry on Monday. “In a time when families are striving hard to maximize every dollar spent on groceries, these experiments raised concerns, causing some to question the prices they encounter on Instacart. That is unacceptable -– particularly for a company founded on trust, transparency, and affordability.”
Instacart announced that “effective immediately,” all item price trials will be discontinued. Retailers will no longer have access to the Eversight AI technology utilized during the pricing experiments. “From now on, if two families are buying the same items, simultaneously, from the same store on Instacart, they will encounter the same prices — period,” Instacart emphasized.
