What: Transparent communication is becoming essential for retailers using dynamic or personalised pricing.

Why it is important: This is significant because AI-enabled pricing and loyalty personalisation are moving faster than consumer acceptance and regulatory comfort.

The MBS Group argues that dynamic pricing in retail is less a technology problem than a communication challenge. UK supermarkets have long used loyalty-linked prices through schemes such as Clubcard, Nectar and Advantage, but customers rarely describe these mechanics as dynamic pricing. The term has become more sensitive after high-profile controversies such as Ticketmaster’s Oasis ticket sale and Wendy’s investor comments, where unclear language created perceptions of unfairness or surge pricing.

Retail leaders interviewed by MBS distinguish between customer-led personalisation and price changes designed mainly to extract margin. They stress that shoppers expect fair, stable prices and can quickly lose trust if prices appear to move unpredictably. Transparency is therefore central, especially in grocery, where products are essential. Pret A Manger is presented as a positive example, having communicated a subscription price rise clearly across email, stores, app and press. The article concludes that dynamic pricing can work only when customers understand why prices change and believe the system benefits them.

IADS Notes: Recent coverage shows that dynamic pricing is becoming both a technological opportunity and a trust challenge for retailers. In May 2026, MBS reported that AI, electronic shelf labels and elasticity modelling are making real-time grocery pricing more practical, but that success depends on transparency, customer acceptance and clear distinctions between dynamic, differential and personalised pricing. The Financial Times also warned in May 2026 that AI-driven surveillance pricing is drawing scrutiny over privacy, fairness and the ethical use of personal data. In June 2026, The Robin Report framed dynamic pricing as a potential reputational risk when shoppers perceive price changes as manipulative, while NRF’s March 2026 coverage of electronic shelf labels showed how the same technology can improve accuracy and transparency when implemented responsibly. Fashion Network’s April 2026 report on M&S Sparks further underlined how loyalty data and AI personalisation can build engagement when customers see immediate, understandable value.

It’s not the price, it’s how you say it: dynamic pricing without losing the customer