Is Surveillance Pricing Sneakily Driving Up Your Grocery Bill?

If you spent $10 on a cheap rotisserie chicken and then noticed that your neighbor bought the exact same product for $8, you'd be justifiably confused, and even a bit miffed. Unfortunately, this is becoming the world we live in, all because of a nefarious practice called surveillance pricing. While the shady convention has been predominantly associated with manipulating airline prices, it's already on the docket to be coming to a grocery store near you.

Companies dig into demographics, locations, and even how you move your mouse when visiting a website to gauge a cost structure tailored to you, but not necessarily in your best interests. The idea is to price goods at the precise dollar amount you're willing to part with, which can often be more than the regular rate. The companies themselves generally aren't poring over your data — they utilize third-party actors to do the dirty work for them.

The term "surveillance pricing" is accurate, but companies engaging in the practice refer to it by a less heinous designation: dynamic pricing. In supermarkets specifically, it's known as Electronic Shelving Labels (ESLs). One of the nation's largest grocery chains, Walmart, is gearing up to implement ESLs in over 2,000 locations by 2026. Kroger has already experimented with using ESLs for years.

The good news is that the government is aware of the issue. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has determined that personal data is used to adjust the price of various goods to different individuals. The bad news: The current solution for consumers is further investigation.

As with all things AI, it can seem hopeless to try to deter its constant advancement into our lives. But resistance is not futile. Currently, the best way to avoid an artificial increase in the cost of groceries is by physically doing your shopping, unless your local store already uses ESLs. Not just avoiding the markup from delivery apps by placing a pickup order, mind you. You've got to go old-school. Make a shopping list and spend as long as it takes walking around to find the best deals on cheap baked goods and whatever else you need.

For some people, that won't require any change. But to those folks: Don't think that because you've never shopped your local store online that it doesn't have all kinds of information about you on file. If you decide it's time to ride the wave of the future and start using a computer to shop for groceries, there isn't currently much you can do to avoid surveillance pricing.

AI, for all its obvious faults, is getting smarter every day. You may think that using a VPN to mask your identity would fool it, but you'd be wrong. These sneaky programs can still sometimes determine it's you via unique signatures on your device. Having a kind friend place your grocery order on their computer might not help either. The AI-driven programs may know who you associate with and see through your shenanigans.

For now, we're all just waiting with bated breath as the oversight organization moves at the speed of government to possibly curb the practice of surveillance pricing. But if history has taught me anything, I wouldn't bet on a prompt solution.