Episode 94
The Loyalty Penalty: Why Your Faithful Shopping Habits Are Costing You More
Keywords Instacart, Consumer Reports, dynamic pricing, AI, surveillance pricing, Eversight, customer surplus, price discrimination, grocery staples, algorithm ethics SummaryIn this episode of the Venture Step Podcast, Dalton Anderson dives into a recent Consumer Reports investigation regarding Instacart’s use of AI-enabled dynamic pricing. Dalton explores how the technology, powered by a company called Eversight, aims to reduce "customer surplus" by charging users different prices for the exact same goods based on their willingness to pay. The discussion highlights the ethical concerns of applying airline-style pricing logic to essential items like milk and eggs, the manipulation of discount perception, and the potential for discriminatory profiling against vulnerable populations.
Keywords Instacart, Consumer Reports, dynamic pricing, AI, surveillance pricing, Eversight, customer surplus, price discrimination, grocery staples, algorithm ethics SummaryIn this episode of the Venture Step Podcast, Dalton Anderson dives into a recent Consumer Reports investigation regarding Instacart’s use of AI-enabled dynamic pricing. Dalton explores how the technology, powered by a company called Eversight, aims to reduce "customer surplus" by charging users different prices for the exact same goods based on their willingness to pay. The discussion highlights the ethical concerns of applying airline-style pricing logic to essential items like milk and eggs, the manipulation of discount perception, and the potential for discriminatory profiling against vulnerable populations.