Canadian shoppers have weathered many storms at the supermarket checkout, from shrinkflation to skimpflation. However, a new and potentially more profound shift is emerging for 2026: the realization that artificial intelligence itself could be a direct driver of higher grocery bills.
The End of Predictable Pricing
According to food researcher Sylvain Charlebois, the rapid adoption of digital shelf labels in physical stores is paving the way for widespread dynamic pricing. This practice, long used by airlines and ride-sharing apps, allows prices to change in real-time based on algorithms. The crucial difference? Food is a necessity, not a discretionary purchase, and its pricing has traditionally been anchored in predictability and fairness.
"The social contract around food pricing is now under pressure," Charlebois notes. The line between online and in-store pricing is vanishing, bringing algorithmic price-setting directly into the grocery aisles. This means prices could potentially vary by location, time of day, or even individual consumer profiles.
Evidence of Variable Costs Emerges
A recent investigation in the United States, conducted by Consumer Reports, the Groundwork Collaborative, and More Perfect Union, offers a stark preview. The study asked 437 shoppers across four cities to purchase identical grocery baskets online simultaneously.
The findings were revealing:
- Nearly three-quarters of items appeared at multiple prices.
- Some products showed as many as five different price points.
- Average price differences reached 13% per item and about 7% across entire baskets.
In one concrete example from Seattle, identical grocery baskets ranged from roughly $114 to $124—a spread of more than nine dollars on a single order placed at the same time.
The High Cost of Algorithmic Shopping
Researchers extrapolated that such pricing variability could cost a family up to $1,200 extra annually. For households already grappling with food affordability, this sum is far from insignificant. Charlebois argues that charging different consumers different prices for the same food item, in the same store, at the same time—simply because an algorithm dictates it—crosses an ethical line.
This shift moves beyond previous consumer concerns like loyalty programs that feel like surveillance or prices disconnected from farmgate costs. The core issue is the deployment of AI not because food costs more to produce, but because the retail industry now knows more about shoppers individually and can adjust prices accordingly.
As digital infrastructure becomes standard in stores, the question for Canadians in 2026 will be whether the era of a stable, transparent price for a loaf of bread or a litre of milk is coming to an end.
