Manitoba premier plans to target ‘differential pricing’ for groceries in new year
Global News
Differential pricing refers to a practice where people can be charged different prices for the same grocery product from the same store.
The Manitoba government is looking at cracking down on so-called “differential pricing” on groceries and implementing further controls on milk as part of its ongoing attempts to contain the rising cost of living.
Differential pricing refers to a practice where people can be charged different prices for the same grocery product from the same store.
“An online grocery seller might charge people different prices based on their demographic information that have been tracked online,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press.
“Third-party apps are definitely one example that we’ve seen. Third-party delivery apps can charge people different prices based on what they know about you as an online consumer. And we just want to see fairness, and we want to see better prices.”
Kinew didn’t provide local examples.
The issue has emerged in the United States, where a recent report by Consumer Reports and two advocacy groups said the online platform Instacart charged different prices for the same grocery items for online customers shopping at the same store.
Instacart, in a blog post this month, said it’s not a retailer and doesn’t control base prices listed on its website. It said retailers often test different prices in order to judge consumer sensitivity.
The Retail Council of Canada, which represents major grocers and others, said its members apply standard pricing.
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