Instacart is ending its controversial price tests

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Instacart is ending its controversial price tests

<p>Instacart has <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:Instacart;elmt:;cpos:1;pos:1" href="https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=5472383a-7bc7-47d6-8e6a-3bdcbaf46c89&amp;siteId=us-engadget&amp;pageId=1p-autolink&amp;contentUuid=3f78769d-09db-4d9f-9c61-0338b9606f51&amp;featureId=text-link&amp;merchantName=Instacart&amp;linkText=announced&amp;custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5pbnN0YWNhcnQuY29tL2NvbXBhbnkvdXBkYXRlcy9lbmRpbmctaXRlbS1wcmljZS10ZXN0cy1vbi1pbnN0YWNhcnQiLCJjb250ZW50VXVpZCI6IjNmNzg3NjlkLTA5ZGItNGQ5Zi05YzYxLTAzMzhiOTYwNmY1MSIsIm9yaWdpbmFsVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5zdGFjYXJ0LmNvbS9jb21wYW55L3VwZGF0ZXMvZW5kaW5nLWl0ZW0tcHJpY2UtdGVzdHMtb24taW5zdGFjYXJ0In0&amp;signature=AQAAAcZ6YPgIH8A3fDnhIQA8kjcujkM7ShquM9MnZhzx9zB3&amp;gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instacart.com%2Fcompany%2Fupdates%2Fending-item-price-tests-on-instacart" class="rapid-with-clickid" data-original-link="https://www.instacart.com/company/updates/ending-item-price-tests-on-instacart">announced[/url] it will be ending price testing on its platform. This comes after a <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/study-shows-that-instacart-was-charging-different-amounts-for-the-same-items-165108224.html">study[/url] published earlier this month revealed pricing experiments that led to some customers seeing higher prices than others and the <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-ftc-is-reportedly-investigating-instacart-over-its-ai-pricing-tool-130000472.html">FTC saying[/url] last week it would be investigating the grocery delivery app.</p>
<p>&quot;Effective immediately, Instacart is ending all item price tests on our platform. Retailers will no longer be able to use Eversight technology to run item price tests on Instacart,&quot; an Instacart spokesperson shared with Engadget. The blog post called out &quot;misconceptions and misinformation,&quot; maintaining that these price experiments were never the result of dynamic pricing and were never based on any personal or behavioral information about shoppers.</p>
<span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>In an <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:Instacart;elmt:;cpos:4;pos:1" href="https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=5472383a-7bc7-47d6-8e6a-3bdcbaf46c89&amp;siteId=us-engadget&amp;pageId=1p-autolink&amp;contentUuid=3f78769d-09db-4d9f-9c61-0338b9606f51&amp;featureId=text-link&amp;merchantName=Instacart&amp;linkText=earlier+blog+post&amp;custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5pbnN0YWNhcnQuY29tL2NvbXBhbnkvdXBkYXRlcy90aGUtdHJ1dGgtYWJvdXQtcHJpY2luZy10ZXN0cy1vbi1pbnN0YWNhcnQiLCJjb250ZW50VXVpZCI6IjNmNzg3NjlkLTA5ZGItNGQ5Zi05YzYxLTAzMzhiOTYwNmY1MSIsIm9yaWdpbmFsVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5zdGFjYXJ0LmNvbS9jb21wYW55L3VwZGF0ZXMvdGhlLXRydXRoLWFib3V0LXByaWNpbmctdGVzdHMtb24taW5zdGFjYXJ0In0&amp;signature=AQAAARiNcS2zaObTJbnfAtIAnfFCGFAg5D358KZXflFqHZ1H&amp;gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instacart.com%2Fcompany%2Fupdates%2Fthe-truth-about-pricing-tests-on-instacart" class="rapid-with-clickid" data-original-link="https://www.instacart.com/company/updates/the-truth-about-pricing-tests-on-instacart">earlier blog post[/url] responding to the study's allegations, Instacart said pricing changes were a &quot;form of short-term, randomized A/B testing.&quot; The post referred to this process as &quot;common in the grocery industry&quot; and continued to paint the practice as a way to &quot;invest in lower prices.&quot; It also highlighted that Instacart does not set the prices on its platform, which are set by retailers listed on the app.</p>
<p>The company made clear that its retail partners will continue to set their own prices on the platform, which may vary by location just as they do in brick-and-mortar stores, but that Instacart will no longer support any item price testing services.</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/instacart-is-ending-its-controversial-price-tests-134552152.html?src=rss

Source: Instacart is ending its controversial price tests