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New York AG seeks Instacart records on price tests.
Summary
New York Attorney General Letitia James demanded information from Instacart about its pricing experiments, saying the company may have violated state disclosure law.
Instacart has said it stopped those experiments in December and that the tests were randomized and not based on personal data.
Content
New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked Instacart to provide information about its recent pricing experiments and related disclosures. The request follows reporting that the platform showed different prices for the same groceries to different shoppers, prompting questions about whether companies must disclose the use of consumer information to set prices. Instacart says it stopped the price experiments in December and that the tests were randomized and not based on personal data. The attorney general said some on-site disclaimers may not meet New York's disclosure requirements.
Known details:
- New York AG Letitia James has demanded records from Instacart and said the company may have violated the state's law requiring disclosure when consumer information is used to set prices.
- Investigations by Consumer Reports and partner groups reported that Instacart displayed different prices for the same grocery lists across shoppers, with an average reported difference of about 7%.
- Instacart has stated it halted the price experiments in December, described them as randomized and not based on personal characteristics, and the AG has requested pricing agreements and explanations of how customers were chosen for tests.
Summary:
The inquiry is focused on whether Instacart's disclosures complied with New York law and on how its pricing experiments were conducted. Undetermined at this time.
