Does Loblaw use personal data to raise prices?
Published Date: July 13, 2026
There has been some public discussion about AI-driven pricing, using terms like "algorithmic pricing," "surveillance pricing," and "dynamic pricing." Some people are concerned grocery retailers use technology, loyalty data, or AI to charge different customers different prices based on personal factors.
The facts:
Loblaw does not use
a customer's income, demographics, loyalty profile, purchase history, browsing history, location, or AI-derived personal characteristics to charge more for groceries.
The price on the shelf is the price everyone pays for that item at that store.
Could this kind of pricing work in grocery?
While these concerns have emerged in other industries, this type of pricing does not exist in grocery. Customers expect grocery pricing to be fair and consistent. If a retailer appeared to profit from timing, weather, demand spikes, or customer urgency, trust would erode quickly. At Loblaw, we will never use this type of pricing, be it on shelf labels, online, or otherwise.
What about PC Optimum?
PC Optimum is designed to provide savings, not higher prices. Customers may receive different offers based on their shopping preferences or activity, but those offers are meant to deliver value, not increase shelf prices. Every year, customers earn and redeem more than $1 billion in PC Optimum points, proving the program's value.
What about electronic shelf labels?
Electronic shelf labels are simply digital versions of paper price tags. They improve price accuracy, reduce manual work, and make updates more efficient. They cannot identify who is standing at the shelf or personalize prices based on loyalty profile, income, location, shopping history, or any other personal information.
What about AI?
We do not use AI to raise individual grocery prices. We do use AI to improve operations, inventory, reduce waste, support promotions, and make offers more relevant.
Why do prices sometimes differ?
Prices may vary by store, region, banner, promotion, flyer, online channel, clearance item, or supplier cost changes. Those differences are not based on an individual customer's personal data.
The bottom line
We know Canadians are concerned about the cost of food, and we take those concerns seriously.
When costs rise, we challenge supplier increases, negotiate better outcomes, expand promotions and value options, grow our control brands, and help customers save where they can. While we cannot control many of the costs throughout the food system, we can be transparent about what we do—and what we don't do.
