Instacart Scraps Variable-Pricing Experiment After Consumer Groups Warned of Inflated Grocery Bills

The company said it ended the pricing tests after criticism that the practice risked quietly inflating grocery bills for cost-strained households.
Instacart Scraps Variable-Pricing Experiment After Consumer Groups Warned of Inflated Grocery Bills
A photo illustration of the Instacart logo. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
|Updated:
0:00

Instacart said it is ending a pricing experiment that allowed different customers to see different prices for identical grocery items after consumer advocates said the practice could inflate grocery bills at a time when households are already struggling with high food costs.

In a blog post published on Dec. 22, the company said it would immediately halt all “item price tests” conducted on its platform, acknowledging that the practice fell short of customer expectations at a time when inflation-weary households remain sensitive to grocery bills.
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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