New York Attorney General Demands Instacart Share Information on Price Testing

New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked Instacart for documents and details about its price-testing experiments after reports that identical items sometimes showed different prices; Instacart said it will end price tests, denied using dynamic or personalized pricing, and expects to respond to the inquiry.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked Instacart to provide documents and details about the company's price-testing experiments. The request was made in a letter seeking pricing agreements with retailers and brands and information about use of the Eversight AI pricing platform and Instacart's Caper Cart software. The inquiry follows a report from Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union that found price differences for identical items in the app. Instacart said it would end price tests, denied using dynamic or personalized pricing, and said it will respond to the Attorney General's questions. Key points: - The Attorney General requested copies of Instacart's pricing agreements with a range of retailers and food and beverage brands. - The letter asked for information about price testing conducted through the Eversight AI pricing platform and Instacart's Caper Cart software. - Officials asked whether Instacart engaged in dynamic pricing or personalized algorithmic pricing as defined by New York's Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act. - A joint report by Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union reported price differences of up to 23% for the same items at the same store and at the same time, with an average difference of 13%. - Instacart said it would end all price tests after customer pushback, while continuing promotions and allowing retail partners to set their own prices. - Instacart shares closed down about 3.6% to $43.03 on the day of the report. Summary: The Attorney General's inquiry is focused on clarifying whether Instacart used algorithmic or personalized pricing under state law and on obtaining related contracts and technical details. Instacart has announced it will stop the price tests in response to customer concerns and has denied engaging in dynamic or surveillance pricing; the company said it will provide answers to the state's questions. The next step is the company's formal response to the Attorney General's document request.