A new Consumer Reports investigation revealed that Instacart has been running AI-assisted pricing experiments across several major grocery chains, and the results are wild!

🤖 Same Basket, Different Price

Investigators found that shoppers sometimes saw prices up to 23% higher for the exact same product. Major retailers affected include Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts, and Albertsons.

Consumer Reports’ Derek Kravitz explained: “We had hundreds of volunteers across the country shop for the same exact grocery products at the same exact time, and in every single case, they were subject to price experiments.”

At one Safeway in Seattle, the same grocery basket ranged from $114 to nearly $124. Over a year, that difference could add up to around $1,200 for a typical family of four.

🏷️ What Instacart and Stores Are Saying

Instacart confirmed the experiments but said only 10 retailers use its pricing tools, and most shoppers still see standard prices without personal or demographic data being factored in.

“We had hundreds of volunteers across the country shop for the same exact grocery products at the same exact time, and in every single case, they were subject to price experiments,” Consumer Reports’ investigative reporter Derek Kravitz said.

“Based on the variations we saw and using Instacart’s numbers for how much a typical household of four spends on groceries in a given year, that could mean a price swing of about $1,200,” said Kravitz.

Target said it doesn’t work with Instacart, while Safeway, Costco, and Kroger didn’t respond. Sprouts declined to comment.

🛒 How Shoppers Can Protect Themselves

Consumer Reports advises sticking to in-person grocery shopping when possible. Other tips include:

• Plan your grocery lists to avoid impulse buys.
• Buy in bulk to lock in better prices.
• Compare prices online and in-store to avoid surprise markups.

Noir Nation, it’s clear that in today’s AI-driven world, your grocery bill might be smarter than you think — and not always in your favor.