# Amazon, FTC Findings Put Personalized Shopping Prices Under Scrutiny

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/31490
Published: 2026-10-13T20:21:41.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-13T20:21:41.000Z
Section: Regulation

> Amazon’s About You feature shows data used for recommendations, while federal findings describe systems that can tailor prices or promotions using behavioral information.

Personal data is becoming a larger part of how U.S. shoppers encounter products, promotions and prices, but available evidence does not establish that every retailer charges individual customers differently for the same item.

Amazon introduced its “About You” feature May 13, 2026, giving customers access to information used to personalize recommendations. The feature can include purchase history, Alexa for Shopping conversations, product reviews, saved “Lists” and searches.

A January 2025 Federal Trade Commission study identified pricing and promotion systems capable of using precise location, browser history, demographics, shopping patterns, mouse movements and abandoned-cart items. The review covered documents from Mastercard, Accenture, PROS, Bloomreach, Revionics and McKinsey & Co.; the intermediaries studied worked with at least 250 clients, including grocery and apparel businesses.

The examples were hypothetical. The underlying material came from an ongoing study and was aggregated or anonymized to protect trade secrets. The findings establish that the technology exists, but they do not show that a specific retailer charged a particular customer more for the same product.

The Federal Trade Commission distinguishes this type of surveillance pricing from ordinary dynamic pricing based on broad market conditions, although the two approaches can overlap. Lina M. Khan, then chair of the commission, described the findings as involving personal information ranging from a shopper’s location and demographics to mouse movements on a webpage.

Target’s pricing policy states that regular prices are consistent for shoppers at the same store, while prices can vary between locations. Target Circle savings may differ, and location and shopping history can be used to reflect local markets and provide offers. Prices may also differ among online, pickup, delivery and local-store purchases.

A Walmart patent granted in 2023 describes electronic shelf labels that could change prices based on products scanned through the company’s Scan & Go system. One example describes a shopper who places tuna in a cart being offered a different price for mayonnaise.

Walmart said Oct. 5, 2026, that it does not use and will not use customer information, digital shelf labels or that example to set individualized prices. Dan Bartlett, Walmart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, said, “We price products, not people.”

Amazon confirms that customer information shapes recommendations, but the About You announcement does not state that the feature sets individualized prices. The documented evidence establishes that data-driven personalization and pricing systems exist, while current use of individualized pricing by specific retailers remains unevenly documented.