Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens on FTC Pricing Investigation: “An important step in cracking down on the methods big corporations use to spy on consumers”
July 23, 2024
Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens on FTC Pricing Investigation: “An important step in cracking down on the methods big corporations use to spy on consumers”
Today, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into surveillance pricing, ordering information from eight companies on the practice in a 5-0 vote. The orders were sent to Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co. Groundwork’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens applauded the action in the following statement:
“Surveillance pricing isn’t new, but new technologies like better data collection and smarter algorithms are turbocharging it and costing Americans a small fortune.
“Today’s investigation is an important step in cracking down on the methods big corporations use to spy on consumers to rip them off.”
Email press@groundworkcollaborative.org to speak with one of Groundwork’s experts about pricing.
BACKGROUND
- In June, The American Prospect and Groundwork Collaborative launched a new special issue: “How Pricing Really Works,” which explores how corporations have combined their market dominance with high-powered technology to deploy a “dizzying array of sophisticated and deceitful tricks” to hike prices on consumers.
- Technological innovations have enabled companies to collect reams of data on their competitors and their customers. They can use this data to facilitate collusion and price fixing or accelerate their ability to hike prices and maximize profits.
- Big corporations are using their power to manipulate prices and net record profits by deploying algorithmic pricing, shrinkflation, skimpflation, rigged scales, and even alleged collusion.
- A cottage industry of companies like Revionics, DemandTec, and others gather competitors’ data using surveillance targeting and geoanalytics and then spit out advice for retailers on how to hike prices higher, faster, and for longer.
- In a report earlier this year, Groundwork found that from April to September 2023, corporate profits drove 53% of inflation. Comparatively, over the 40 years prior to the pandemic, profits drove just 11% of price growth.
