Instacart's AI pricing tests led to higher costs for shoppers: Study
A new study found Instacart's AI-driven pricing resulted in higher prices for most users compared to the lowest available price.
Researchers discovered that 74% of products on the platform had different prices depending on who was shopping, which could mean an extra $1,200 a year for a typical family.
How the price changes worked
The study tracked 437 Instacart sessions across big US stores like Safeway and Target.
Shoppers were sorted into groups that saw different prices for the same items—like in one Seattle test, a 20-item basket ranged from $114 to $124 depending on the group.
What Instacart did—and what they said
Instacart used tactics like changing "original" prices before discounts (for example, saltine crackers were listed at $5.93, $5.99, or $6.69 before dropping to $3.99) and tweaking other items by small amounts across customers.
Some retailers didn't know these tests were happening.
Instacart says these experiments were just with a few partners to see how pricing affects shopper choices and claimed it was about making groceries more affordable—but the findings have people questioning if this is really fair or transparent.