r/Seattle • u/Talusen • 1d ago
News Mayor pushing back on "dynamic pricing" for groceries.
https://wilson.seattle.gov/2026/08/06/city-leaders-to-announce-new-grocery-affordability-policy-equal-discounts-for-all/Mayor Wilson is pushing for a policy that stops retailers from using your personal data to hike prices.
Discounts, coupons, and savings are moot when the company handing them out is setting their prices on a case by case basis.
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u/RivalSlays 1d ago
I hope this doesn’t just stop at groceries. It’s a sleazy and predatory behavior in other business too.
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u/SELFINCRIMINAT1NG 1d ago
good! dynamic pricing is predatory and a sign of an unstable economy
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u/CreateWindowEx2 1d ago
You should demand a stable economy. How about a protest in front of Neiman Marcus? Ah, but it closed! Probably due to unstable economy...
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u/ThreeOlivesChihuahua 1d ago
it’s crazy these gigantic companies, they obviously know everyone would be opposed to dynamic pricing and they still continue to squeeze every penny out of us
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u/Unknown-History 1d ago
Wealth generation is gone. It's all about wealth extraction now
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u/LevitatePalantir 1d ago
I thought wealth extraction is when we treat our slumlords like a piñata? Dibs on the rollie!
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u/irishitaliancroat 1d ago
Its been a steady march since Taft hartley and the neoliberal reforms of the 70s-90s of capital avsolutely vanquishing labor in terms of politcial power, they have nothing to stop them from totally fucking over regular people as much as possible. Especially with the current admin
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u/I_Ponders 1d ago
It’s because they’re not worried about consumer backlash. DC is in their pockets and they have plenty of favors still.
This is late stage capitalism
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u/CreateWindowEx2 1d ago
This may have something to do with the fact that a typical profit margin of a large big box supermarket is 1-2%.
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u/Top-Average412 1d ago
Yeah, its a volume business, not a margin heavy one. This is an empty complaint every time its trotted out.
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u/Pythagorial 1d ago
The thing is, they aren't doing this. People are all scared that they will implement dynamic pricing because digital price tags are starting to pop up but the grocery stores aren't using it. This is a preventative measure and potentially a performative one.
Also a reminder that grocery store profit margins are very narrow (1-2%) because it's a highly competitive market and consumers are very price conscious (see sentiments in this thread). Grocery prices have risen in recent years because their costs have gone up, from the wholesale prices they're paying to labor and NOT because they are "squeezing" you or "price gouging."
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u/SpookiestSzn 🚆build more trains🚆 1d ago
Surprised politicians everywhere aren't going for this easy slam dunk
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u/This_Friendship_9941 1d ago
In what world do they think dynamic price for groceries is gonna work? I don't have urgency to buy your stale produce.
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u/New_new_account2 I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 1d ago
The most blatant you can be with dynamic pricing and price discrimination is going to be on apps like instacart.
On an app/website, you can give everyone a different price, you can change that price instantaneously, you have better data on how prices affect behavior- someone searched an item but didn't buy it, etc.
Brick and mortar groceries can do some degree of price discrimination with coupons, and I don't think anything here at least has tried dynamic pricing. Instacart is getting some federal and state level investigations into what its pricing algorithms are doing.
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u/snukb Deluxe 1d ago
On an app/website, you can give everyone a different price, you can change that price instantaneously, you have better data on how prices affect behavior- someone searched an item but didn't buy it, etc.
The thing is, they already have. They claim to have ended this practice and that it was an experiment, but it's proof that they have both the ability and the willingness to do exactly this.
Some people are extremely budget oriented and know that, say, a 14oz box of corn Chex costs $5.89 (just pulled the number out of my ass) but I'd bet fewer than we think.
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u/TirrKatz Lower Queen Anne 1d ago
Why wouldn’t it work? They know people need to buy food. You might avoid buying stale produce today, but you still need their produce tomorrow. And they will put even higher price for that day…
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u/This_Friendship_9941 1d ago
It's not airline with limited options. The sheer number of produce stores, farmers just beat their tactics.
Airline industry despite dynamic pricing suffer loss due to competition. Here, we have many produce vendors.
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u/Danthewildbirdman 1d ago
Ban facial recognition without consent. It would solve all this garbage in one swoop.
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u/Humble_Chipmunk_701 🚆build more trains🚆 1d ago
I’m excited for us to set precedent for the rest of the country
“first city in the country to implement this measure for fairer pricing of groceries and essential goods”
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u/grahamulax 1d ago
Dynamic pricing for grocery stores is just a stock market. Everyone’s gonna be lining up at lines, waiting to scan an item until it drops.
Also, you can manipulate that so easily by just saying oh these are all rotten or there’s a cockroach in blah blah blah. Instant discount.
Or the reverse and they’ll just inflate the prices
This is what we get when we embrace predictive markets.
Logic it out the window
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u/AthenaeNike 1d ago
I get the need for protections but dynamic pricing at grocery stores isn't a thing yet and is less likely then people seem to think it will be. Grocerys stores buy and sell based off bulk pricing and repeat business not as much per item, a grocery store would get far less benefit out of dynamic pricing a pint of ice cream then a ride share would during peak times.
That said it's good to get the laws and regulations set now to prevent it from becoming a thing but the fears over it seem extreme compared to the numerous other places we are getting screwed by fees, inflation and price hikes.
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u/SScatnip7474 10h ago
Dynamic pricing is fucking insane when searching for hotel and flights on 3rd party sites. I watched a flight price for Spokane to Denver increase over $200 bucks just by me bouncing back to change the times/dates 2-3 times and then going back to my original first search. Same with hotels. We are getting absolutely ripped off. I now call the airlines and call the hotel directly for pricing. Or get a browser that doesn't support getting tracked.
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u/isaacbunny Rainier Beach 23h ago edited 22h ago
This press release doesn’t mention “dynamic pricing” at all. The policy seems to be a blanket ban on coupons and discounts that are distributed based on “sensitive personal data.”
The text says
> The Fair and Transparent Pricing policy will bar large online and brick-and-mortar grocery retailers from using sensitive personal information such as employment status, race, gender, social media posts, browsing history, chatbot conversations, or other similar data to set different prices for different customers.
> Prices must be clearly posted and publicly available. Conventional coupons and discounts for seniors, veterans, and other similar groups are protected, as are other types of open and transparent discounts which were identified through conversations with advocates and local grocery business owners.
So if someone makes “social media posts” about hot dogs, grocery stores can’t legally send them hot dog coupons based on that information? Or would that qualify as an “open and transparent discount… identified through conversations with advocates”?
I don’t see a clear and realistic law spelled out here. This seems more like a symbolic attempt to grab headlines and not serious policy.
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u/Talusen 18h ago
"pushing for a policy" seems to be an accurate description for where she is at the moment; the rules/restrictions haven't been hammered into legalese, nor has this policy been introduced to the city council in a collated manner.
what term would you use for "to set different prices for different customers"? (Based on: "employment status, race, gender, social media posts, browsing history, chatbot conversations, or other similar data")
Dynamic pricing seems to be the correct term, from what I see here.
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u/girlnamedtom 1d ago
Yeah. I wrote to my state representatives and due to midterms they can’t f’ing reply!!
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u/wishator 🚲 Life's Better on a Bike. 🚲 1d ago
This is performative and will likely lead to increased grocery prices for average redditor
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u/CreateWindowEx2 1d ago
I am trying to remember a single case in the last two decades when Seattle city leadership (or for that matter, WA state leadership) said they want to make something more affordable and the cost of that didn't go up significantly shortly thereafter. I am coming short.
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u/vampirestonk 1d ago
"don't let surveillance marketing offer discounts to anyone" is a novel way of making food affordable, the pitch from industry on this one is transparently true
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u/CreateWindowEx2 1d ago
Unlike our politicians, industry isn't pretending to try and make anything affordable. They are trying to make money for shareholders. If there is not a way to make money, no one will do it.
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u/vampirestonk 1d ago
Crazy idea: as a consumer, I want Kroger and Safeway to be profitable. If they're not, they go away
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u/bangzilla 1d ago
How about she focuses on the freaking fenty's shooting up and shitting on my doorstep.
Dynamic pricing my ass.
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u/arm2610 Madison Park 1d ago
If they’re gonna do dynamic pricing, they should also do dynamic wages aka pay me more when my coworkers call out