At first glance, pricing doesn’t appear to be a customer experience issue. But how a company decides to set prices can have implications that go far beyond finance’s scope, influencing a customer’s relationship to a brand.
With personalized pricing or surveillance pricing, a business will change the price of a product based on an individual’s personal data and what a business thinks that consumer is willing to pay.
The Federal Trade Commission is turning its sights on the practice, warning that companies that fail to tell consumers how their data is being used to set prices may be in violation of FTC law. Lawmakers from Connecticut to Maryland have passed legislation banning or limiting surveillance pricing, and more state lawmakers have introduced legislation to such effect.
The practice of changing prices based on an individual, and not simply market conditions, erodes trust, experts told CX Dive. It’s easy to understand why.
“People want to be treated fairly,” Jeannie Walters, founder of Experience Investigators, told CX Dive. “Different prices for the same things feels inherently unfair.”
Here are three stories on surveillance pricing and its impact on the customer experience:
