Instacart’s AI technology is hiking prices as much as 20% for the same item, new study reveals

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — Online grocery delivery service Instacart used AI to charge different prices for the same item, up to 20% more for different shoppers, a new report says.

An investigation from Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative revealed Tuesday that Instacart displayed different prices on the same household staples sold at well-known stores, including Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, Safeway and Target. The report said customers are “unknowingly part of widespread AI-enabled experiments.”

“Corporate practices like these increase prices for American families. When prices are no longer transparent, shoppers can’t comparison-shop. When prices are no longer predictable, shoppers can’t properly budget,” the organizations said in the report.

The report found that Instacart uses AI to gauge how “price sensitive” customers are, meaning how much grocery stores can charge for an item before the shopper decides to not purchase it. That’s different from dynamic pricing, where prices instantly change depending on supply and demand.

“That motive was confirmed by an email exchange between Instacart and Costco that was accidentally sent to (Consumer Reports) by Costco after we contacted the company for comment on our findings,” the report said. (Costco didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request comment.)

This report comes as Americans are feeling the pinch of higher grocery costs, which are are climbing in part because of tariffs, the immigration crackdown and extreme weather affecting food supply.

Instacart was chosen because it’s “by far the dominant e-commerce” grocery service, with more than 250 million orders in the first three quarters of 2025, the organizations said.

The study asked 437 participants to buy the exact same item on the service and also compare to in-store prices. The investigation found that “every one of the volunteer shoppers who participated in our tests was subject to algorithmic price experiments.”

For example, a dozen eggs sold on Instacart at a single Safeway location in Washington, DC, retailed any where from $3.99 to $4.28, $4.59 and $4.79. In another test, pricing for a box of Safeway’s private label Corn Flakes ranged 23% between the lowest and highest prices — from $2.99 to $3.69.

In total, shoppers dependent on Instacart could see “a cost swing of about $1,200 per year” because of the AI-powered technology the service uses, the report found.

Instacart said in a comment to CNN that each retailer’s pricing policy is displayed on their storefront on the company’s app or website so customers can see the difference between online and in-store prices. (Prices of products sold on these apps are often higher because of labor costs and other fees.)

“Just as retailers have long tested prices in their physical stores to better understand consumer preferences, a subset of only 10 retail partners — ones that already apply markups — do the same online via Instacart,” a spokesperson said.

Instacart added that the “limited, short-term, and randomized tests” helps retailers decide which essential items to keep affordable for customers.

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