Have you ever looked up flights or hotels on an app on your phone, only to open your laptop and see different prices?
How Retailers Use Personalized Prices to Test What You’re Willing to Pay
It’s why something may cost less on your phone than your laptop.
October 20, 2017
Summary.
Orbitz, the travel website, offers slightly different prices to customers who are shopping through its app or a computer, and even between two different users on the same platform. Some of this may be due to experimentation and testing, but it’s also a sign that web retailers are using technology to try to offer personalized pricing — a practice some might consider a form of price profiling. The goal of this practice is to try to identify an individual’s willingness to pay and adjust the price upward or downward to maximize profits. It’s something shoppers should be aware of as more purchases are made online.