Rep. Angie Craig Presses Instacart After Report Cites 'Smart Rounding' Pricing

ST. PAUL, MN — U.S. Rep. Angie Craig is demanding answers from Instacart after citing an investigation that found the grocery delivery company charged different customers different prices for the same items.

In a Dec. 11 letter to Instacart CEO Chris Rogers, Craig pointed to a Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative investigation that found some grocery prices on Instacart differed by as much as 23 percent per item from one customer to another.

Craig said the findings raise serious concerns about the company’s use of artificial intelligence and consumer data to determine pricing, particularly at a time when many families are struggling with rising food costs.

The investigation found that Instacart customers were shown varying prices and discounts for identical items, sometimes making advertised savings appear larger or smaller depending on the customer.

In one example Craig cited, shoppers ordering from a Target store in St. Paul saw their grocery cart totals differ by more than $5 for the exact same items.

"Food is not a privilege; it’s a basic need," Craig wrote, arguing that Instacart’s services are especially important for families, people with disabilities, caregivers, and residents of rural areas or food deserts.

Craig also raised concerns about Instacart promoting its platform to customers who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, while the investigation found higher prices were sometimes charged to users flagged by the company’s algorithm as more likely to pay them.

The Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative investigation also cited an inadvertently sent internal Instacart email in which the company referred to one pricing tactic as "smart rounding."

Craig described the practice of charging different prices to different customers at the same store as unacceptable and potentially illegal, calling it part of a broader pattern of technology companies using personal data to increase profits on essential goods.

She is demanding that Instacart respond by Jan. 15. Craig requested a full list of pricing experiments conducted by the company, details on what consumer data was used to determine pricing, internal reviews of potential harm to vulnerable customers, and estimates of how many U.S. users were charged higher prices and how much they were overcharged.

In a comment to CNN on the recent study, Instacart said each retailer’s pricing policy is displayed on its app and website so customers can see the difference between online and in-store prices.

"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 told the news station.