Instacart Agrees to $60 Million FTC Settlement Over Deceptive Marketing Claims

Instacart has reached a $60 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) due to allegations of deceptive marketing and a lack of transparency regarding fees. The FTC claimed Instacart falsely advertised free deliveries while concealing service fees that could increase order costs by as much as 15%. Furthermore, the company allegedly enrolled customers in Instacart+ memberships after free trials without providing the promised benefits or issuing refunds.

Instacart denies any wrongdoing but stated its desire to move forward and concentrate on its business, asserting its commitment to transparent pricing and terms. Despite this, the company’s shares experienced a nearly 2% decline following the announcement of the settlement.

Separately, the FTC is investigating Instacart’s use of its AI-powered pricing tool, Eversight, which allows for variable pricing on identical products, with a recent study showing price differences of up to 23% for the same items in the same store. Instacart defends Eversight, claiming the price tests are random and not based on user data, and that they are actively working with retailers to achieve price parity between in-store and online prices.

(Source：Hoodline)