The popular app Instacart charged customers different prices on the same items bought from the same stores, an investigation from Consumer Reports and progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative found. Instacart responded, saying, "These tests are not dynamic pricing.

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A recent investigation by Consumer Reports and the Groundwork Collaborative revealed that Instacart, a popular grocery delivery app, charges different prices for the same items to different users. The study found that even when multiple shoppers purchased identical items from the same store at the same time, prices could vary by more than 20%.

Nationwide, the average price difference was 7%, which could result in a family of four paying up to $1,200 more per year. Instacart stated that its pricing tests are not dynamic and that retailers have long conducted price tests in both physical and online stores. Experts recommend shopping in person, comparing prices with friends and family, and enabling privacy protections to avoid higher costs.

Instacart's AI pricing can vary by user and bump up your grocery costs

We're gonna begin with a Consumer Reports investigation into the prices you pay on a popular delivery delivery platform It found that the very same items purchased at the same store by Instacart Can vary from user to user the difference really can't add up as well Jolene Kent is back with a look at what is going on here? One product two different prices. That's what a new report found about the price you pay on Instacart Multiple shoppers buying from the same store at the same time paid prices that varied by more than 20% The investigation carried out by Consumer Reports and progressive think-tank groundwork collaborative Found that Instacart a popular app that sends gig workers into stores to do your shopping Charged customers different prices on the same items The report says at one Washington DC grocery store For example a dozen eggs added to virtual carts at the same time rang up at five different prices ranging from $3.99 to $4.79 Nationwide prices in the study varied by 7% on average which could total $1,200 more per year for a family of four The study did not find a clear reason why certain customers got shown certain prices It's the deceptive and unpredictable nature of these pricing experiments Americans don't realize they're guinea pigs in these experiments groundwork collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens Prices are already high and now Instacart really just pouring gasoline on this affordability crisis Grocery prices have skyrocketed 25% in the last five years How can you comparison shop if you don't know that you're getting the real price This is such a critical point the lack of transparency in this Instacart market completely erodes Consumers ability to comparison shop. The price tag is really long gone at this point Instacart responded saying these tests are not dynamic pricing prices never change in real time and added that Retailers have long tested prices in their physical stores and that ten do so in the app This is just so frustrating to see so as a shopper What can you do to avoid the higher prices experts tell us three things one? Try to shop in person where prices tend to be more static to you can run a test on Instacart Have your family and friends add the same items at the same time from the same place See if they get a lower price and then three enable privacy protections, which may mean opting out of some of those loyalty programs

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Instacart's AI pricing can vary by user and bump up your grocery costs

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