According to Futurism, new research from Groundwork Collaborative, Consumer Reports, and More Perfect Union has uncovered that Instacart used AI algorithms to charge customers wildly different prices for the exact same items. Their experiments with 437 shoppers found price fluctuations averaging 7% at the same location and time, with some customers paying up to 23% more. At a Seattle Safeway, the same groceries cost between $114.34 and $123.93, while a Minnesota Target had seven distinct “price groups.” The researchers estimate a household of four could pay an extra $1,200 annually due to these fluctuations. This practice began after Instacart’s 2022 acquisition of an AI pricing firm called Eversight, which the company’s CEO said in 2024 helps them figure out customer “price sensitivity.”
It’s Not a Bug, It’s a Feature
Here’s the thing: this isn’t some glitch. It’s the entire point. Instacart bought Eversight specifically to run these experiments. The CEO basically admitted it on an investor call. They’re using AI to map out exactly how much they can squeeze from each transaction, aiming for a 2-5% profit boost per sale. And the most alarming part? The retailers themselves, like Target, told researchers they had no idea this was happening. Target stated it “does not directly share any pricing information with Instacart.” So Instacart is scraping prices, adding its own secret sauce markup, and calling it a “test.” They claim the tests have ended, but do you really believe they’d turn off a system designed to maximize profit? I don’t.
The Groceries Are Just the Beginning
This feels like a tipping point. We’re used to dynamic pricing for airline tickets and insurance. But groceries? That’s a fundamental necessity. And Instacart is just the canary in the coal mine. As noted, Kroger has been testing dynamic pricing in-store since 2018. Walmart and Whole Foods are looking at it too. We’re moving toward a world where the price on the shelf is just a suggestion, and the real price is determined by an algorithm that knows your shopping habits, your location, and maybe even how desperate you seem. The potential for discrimination and exploitation is massive.
Profits, Not Wages, Are Driving Inflation
This research powerfully reinforces a crucial, and often ignored, economic truth. The biggest driver of the inflation we’ve all been suffering through isn’t wage growth or government spending. It’s corporate profits. As analysis from the Economic Policy Institute has shown, corporate profits have contributed disproportionately to inflation. Tools like AI dynamic pricing are the new, hyper-efficient engines for that profit-taking. They allow companies to extract maximum value with surgical precision, turning every customer into a mini-experiment. The $1,200 annual “algorithm tax” on families isn’t an accident. It’s the business model. And as this tech spreads from airlines to your local supermarket, that tax is only going to get heavier.
What Do We Do About It?
So where does this leave us as consumers? Completely outgunned, basically. You can’t outsmart an AI that’s testing thousands of price points in real-time. The real solution has to be regulatory and involve serious transparency. If a store is using dynamic pricing, it should be legally required to be blatantly obvious—maybe a live ticker showing the current price and its range over the last hour. We also need rules about what data can be used for pricing. Should your purchase history allow a company to charge you more for milk? It’s a slippery slope. For now, the report from the Groundwork Collaborative is a vital wake-up call. Your grocery bill isn’t just about food costs anymore. It’s a data point in a corporate profit algorithm. And that should worry everyone.
