Overview
- Coverage intensified in late September as Lindsay Owens’s new book and her testimony before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee sharpened focus on firms that set different prices for different shoppers.
- The Federal Trade Commission issued a formal warning that tailoring online prices using consumers’ personal data may violate expectations and could run afoul of the law.
- Roughly two dozen state bills have been filed this year and several states, including Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland, have already passed laws that ban or require disclosure of personalized pricing.
- Companies collect detailed data from apps, loyalty programs, location signals, and A/B price tests to estimate each shopper’s willingness to pay and then experiment with different prices.
- Emerging AI shopping agents risk amplifying these tactics—early company figures show higher cart totals with agent recommendations—and advocates have proposed a Shopper’s Bill of Rights while warning that DIY workarounds would shift the burden onto consumers.