Do you use Instacart’s online grocery shopping service? If so, a new survey says you may be be paying more for the same products than other folks from the same part of the country. Overall, 3 out of 4 items checked were offered at varying prices…
Secret plan
According to ABC News, “Researchers told ABC News that Instacart has been using AI to run pricing experiments on millions of shoppers, testing how much stores can raise prices before customers remove an item from their cart or switch to another store. […] In a statement to ABC News Instacart acknowledged that these pricing tests are taking place.”
“These limited, short-term, and randomized tests help retail partners learn what matters most to consumers and how to keep essential items affordable,” an Instacart spokesperson stated.”
And the ‘tests’ are anything by ‘limited’: Instacart says it’s ‘adjusted’ prices for millions of shoppers…
The study
The price differential survey by Groundwork Collaborative and Consumer Reports included nearly 200 grocery shoppers in four US cities who went used the Instacart app and shopped for the same products at the same time.
“In Seattle for example, the survey found a box of crackers was $3.99 for some shoppers, while for others it was $4.89 — a 23 percent difference. In Washington, D.C., a dozen eggs cost $3.99 for some shoppers but $4.79 for others. And in Ohio, peanut butter was $2.99 for some customers and $3.59 for others.”
What they found
The final accounting showed that the differences could cost – or save – a family of four an extra $1,200 a year. But they’re not ‘real’. They’re artificial prices applied for very short periods of time by Instacart.
My take
SO… shoppers who thought the price of crackers, eggs or peanut butter were actually coming down will be disappointed.
I find it cynical – and dismissive – that Instacart admits they’re trying to determine, “how much stores can raise prices before customers remove an item from their cart or switch to another store.”
That disclosure clearly indicates that Instacart and the grocery sector are still doing their best to squeeze every last cent they can out of consumers – without alienating customers. Nothing in there about lowering prices. Clearly, the Food Sector is still working collectively, in an organized manner, to keep prices as high as they can.
Last week, we reported that the Canada Grocery Code of Conduct (CGCC) organization had completed it’s organizational phase, setting an administrative structure and publishing the actual Code. All that did for the average person, struggling to afford decent food, was confirm that he CGCC is designed by and for the industry to deal with internal matters. Nothing in there, either, about lowering the sky-high and still-rising price of food…
Maggie J.