Instacart ends controversial program that showed different prices for different users

Instacart has announced it is discontinuing a controversial pricing program that allowed some customers to see different prices for the same product, ordered simultaneously from the same store, when using its delivery service.

The move follows significant public scrutiny and concerns over transparency.

The decision comes after a report from Consumer Reports, alongside advocacy groups Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union, revealed that Instacart presented nearly three out of every four grocery items to shoppers at multiple prices during an experiment.

This practice raised alarms, prompting Instacart to state in a blog post, "At a time when families are working exceptionally hard to stretch every grocery dollar, those tests raised concerns, leaving some people questioning the prices they see on Instacart. That’s not okay – especially for a company built on trust, transparency, and affordability."

The program, which began in 2023, was initially intended to help grocers understand customer price sensitivity, mirroring how physical stores might offer varied prices across different locations.

The program, which began in 2023, was initially intended to help grocers understand customer price sensitivity (Getty Images)

Instacart clarified that this was neither "dynamic pricing," where prices fluctuate with demand, nor "surveillance pricing," which tailors prices based on personal data. Instead, prices were offered randomly, with some customers seeing slightly higher or lower figures. For instance, the Consumer Reports experiment found Instacart customers were shown one of five different prices for a dozen Lucerne eggs from a Washington, D.C. Safeway, $3.99, $4.28, $4.59, $4.69, or $4.79.

While retailers will retain the autonomy to set their own prices on the delivery platform and vary them in their brick-and-mortar outlets, Instacart confirmed that "from now on, Instacart will not support any item price testing services." The company declined to specify how many customers were affected, but the service has ceased immediately.

This development follows a separate legal challenge last week, where Instacart agreed to pay $60 million in customer refunds to settle federal allegations of deceptive practices.

The Federal Trade Commission had accused the company of falsely advertising free deliveries and failing to clearly disclose service fees, which could add up to 15% to an order. Instacart denied wrongdoing in that case, stating the settlement was reached to allow it to move forward.

In its blog post, Instacart concluded, "Trust is earned through clarity and consistency. Customers should never have to second-guess the prices they’re seeing."