FTC Orders Target, Walmart, and Others to Explain How They Set Prices

The Federal Trade Commission is asking nine major companies to disclose exactly how they determine the prices consumers pay. The order targets Target, Walmart, Instacart, United Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, and DoorDash. The agency wants to know if these firms use algorithms or loyalty programs to vary the cost of products and services based on individual customer profiles.

The commission sent the request for documents this week. The companies now have 45 days to respond. They must detail what personal information they collect and how they use it to set prices. The inquiry also asks whether the same technology used for customer pricing is applied to pay rideshare and delivery drivers.

The practice under review is known as surveillance pricing. It involves using data such as a customer's location, demographics, browsing history, or shopping cart behavior to adjust prices. It remains unclear how widely this practice is used or if the same item costs more for one person than another.

In January 2025, the FTC began a preliminary analysis of this market. That review involved documents from third-party firms including Mastercard, Accenture, PROS, Bloomreach, Revionics, and McKinsey & Co. The agency stated that the goal was to understand how intermediaries set individualized prices based on consumer characteristics.

The data from that earlier analysis indicated that retailers could track specific user actions. These actions included mouse movements on a webpage and the types of products left in an online shopping cart without purchase.

FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement that initial staff findings show retailers frequently use personal information to set targeted prices. She noted that Americans deserve to know how their private data is used to set the prices they pay. She added that the agency should continue investigating whether firms charge different people different prices for the same good or service.

State legislatures have also moved to address this issue. Four states have already passed laws regarding surveillance pricing. Illinois lawmakers are currently weighing their own restrictions on the practice. The current FTC order is a request for documents and does not conclude that the named companies are using surveillance pricing.