Across the United States, a growing shift toward artificial intelligence-assisted pricing tools and electronic shelf labels in grocery stores and major retail chains is sparking widespread consumer apprehension, regulatory scrutiny, and state-level legislative action. According to NBC10 Philadelphia and an Oct. 18, 2026 report by the Associated Press, shoppers are increasingly frustrated and suspicious about whether automated software is adjusting everyday retail prices in real time or using personal data to charge different customers varying amounts for the exact same item.

While Americans have long accepted fluctuating fares for airline tickets, hotel bookings, and ride-hailing apps, the prospect of algorithms dictating the cost of groceries and household goods has triggered backlash. Retail industry leaders maintain that modern pricing tools are designed to manage inventory and lower costs, whereas consumer advocates warn that opaque data collection creates an uneven playing field at checkout.

Dynamic, Algorithmic, and Surveillance Pricing Explained

Part of the friction between retailers and shoppers stems from the conflation of three distinct technological practices: dynamic pricing, algorithmic pricing, and surveillance pricing.

As detailed by the Associated Press, dynamic pricing adjusts costs in response to broad market conditions, such as shifting supply and demand. Algorithmic pricing refers to software systems that analyze sales volumes, competitor pricing, and market signals to recommend or automatically set prices. In a cross-industry survey of more than 2,200 business leaders across 28 countries and 39 industries cited by the AP, 41% reported that their organizations used AI software for market intelligence, including tracking competitor prices, while 28% used AI for real-time price optimization.

Surveillance pricing—often called personalized pricing—is a more controversial practice that uses an individual shopper’s personal data to determine the price they see. According to a January 2025 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff inquiry cited by FoodNavigator and TokenPost, third-party pricing intermediaries have built systems capable of drawing on location, demographics, browsing and shopping history, device type, mouse movements, and items left in an online cart to tailor prices or promotions.

Conflicting Evidence on Retail Price Variations

Whether U.S. retailers are actively deploying surveillance pricing to charge individual shoppers more remains a point of contention between industry groups and consumer watchdogs.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the National Retail Federation (NRF) has pushed back against surveillance-pricing claims, calling such scenarios speculative and stating there is no empirical evidence that retailers are broadly raising prices for individual shoppers. The NRF argues that customer data and technology are instead utilized to deliver discounts, coupons, and targeted savings. Furthermore, pricing data cited by the Associated Press indicates that roughly half of recorded U.S. price changes were actually price decreases rather than increases.

Conversely, consumer advocacy groups point to specific tests showing significant online price disparities. In December 2025, Consumer Reports and the Groundwork Collaborative reported a test of Instacart utilizing Eversight pricing technology, which found that shoppers were shown different prices for identical grocery items from the same store, resulting in total basket differences of up to 23%, according to Yahoo Finance. Similarly, a 2025 investigation by Boston 25 News reported by Yahoo News enlisted dozens of shoppers across eight cities to check online prices simultaneously. In one instance on Walmart’s website, an Atlanta-area shopper was shown a television priced at more than $1,000, while other shoppers checking the item at roughly the same time saw prices under $900, though the investigation did not establish whether personal data caused the variation.

“If a company has a technology that’s going to allow them to earn more money from consumers, I don’t see why they wouldn’t use it,” Emily Peterson-Cassin of the Consumer Federation of America told Yahoo News. “Companies know there’s money to be made by surveilling us, by learning things about us that point to the highest price we’re willing to pay.”

Digital Shelf Labels and the Trust Deficit

In brick-and-mortar stores, the rollout of electronic shelf labels that replace traditional paper price tags has amplified public suspicion, particularly following patent filings from Walmart that detailed AI technology capable of assisting with pricing.

Katie Thomas, who leads an internal consumer behavior think tank at the management consulting firm Kearney, told NBC10 Philadelphia that social media posts have falsely implied Walmart’s electronic shelf labels scan shoppers’ faces or cellphones to set individualized prices on the spot. “There are major tensions happening right now between who’s really going to have the power with some of these algorithms and usage of bots and AI: the companies or the shopper,” Thomas said.

In response to the backlash, Walmart CEO John Furner published a blog post on Sept. 25, 2026, stating that digital price tags are meant to save employees time and keep shelf prices accurate. Furner wrote that the retailer does not and will not use a customer’s personal information, income, shopping history, urgency, or willingness to pay to set individualized prices, nor does it adjust prices based on the weather or time of day. “We price the product, not the person,” Furner stated, as reported by Detroit Free Press and Yahoo News.

Still, wariness around automated retail transactions persists. A late-May 2026 Harris Poll of 2,065 U.S. adults reported by ASD Online found that while 72% of respondents had used an AI assistant for product discovery, price comparisons, or choosing a retailer, only 23% trusted AI to complete a payment, citing concerns over spending control, data privacy, and access to refunds or dispute resolution.

State Legislation and Federal Oversight

As pricing software advances, federal regulators and state lawmakers are moving to establish guardrails. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, cited by NBC10 Philadelphia, legislators in at least 30 states have considered pricing bills in 2026, including measures targeting algorithmic and personalized pricing.

According to the Detroit Free Press, states including Maryland, Connecticut, and New Jersey have begun passing laws to restrict or ban surveillance pricing. In Massachusetts, lawmakers are evaluating House Bill 99 and Senate Bill 2515, which sit in committee and focus on restricting surveillance pricing and the use of biometric data in grocery stores, Yahoo News reported. At the federal level, the FTC has accepted public comments on a proposed enforcement policy warning businesses that failing to disclose the use of personal data to determine individualized prices could violate federal consumer protection laws.

What It Means for Shoppers: Frequently Asked Questions

How can shoppers tell if a price change is based on market demand or personal data?

For an individual consumer, distinguishing between standard dynamic pricing and personalized pricing is difficult without testing. As seen in the Boston 25 News and Consumer Reports investigations, shoppers generally only spot online price discrepancies by comparing the exact same item simultaneously across different accounts, browsers, or locations.

Do electronic shelf labels change prices based on who walks by?

No evidence supports claims that in-store digital price tags scan faces or phones to raise prices for specific individuals. Retailers like Walmart state that electronic shelf labels are used to streamline store operations and ensure shelf tags match checkout systems, rather than fluctuating by the hour or by the person.

Is personalized pricing illegal in the United States?

There is no blanket federal ban on personalized pricing, though the FTC has proposed an enforcement policy requiring companies to disclose when personal data is used to set individualized prices. However, state-level restrictions are expanding, with at least 30 states considering pricing legislation in 2026 and several states moving to restrict surveillance pricing in grocery aisles.

Sources

Read More