Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools - MyNorthwest.com

Consumers say they’re not only frustrated by high prices but by the high-tech methods behind them as major U.S. retailers and restaurant chains increasingly use AI-assisted pricing. Digital price tags are replacing paper labels in grocery aisles, while AI tools help businesses set charges by predicting customer responses. Online, terms like “dynamic pricing” and “surveillance pricing” have intensified anxiety as users ask whether different people are paying different amounts for the same item. Katie Thomas of Kearney said the core tension is who controls these algorithms—companies or shoppers. Walmart CEO John Furner said in a blog post that digital tags save employee time and keep prices current, adding that labels aren’t used to raise prices based on weather, time of day, or individual shoppers. However, limited transparency about collected data has fueled suspicion. At least 30 states considered pricing bills this year, and the FTC proposed an enforcement policy warning that nondisclosure of personal data use for individualized pricing could violate consumer protection law. The article also reviews dynamic pricing and surge pricing examples.