The majority of shoppers trust data science more than the retailer to provide fair prices, a new study has found.

The research from retail software outfit Revionics, which surveyed consumers from the US, UK, France, Germany and Brazil, found that 78 per cent of shoppers think it is fair to use data science to increase and decrease prices as long as they are presented with prices they’re willing to pay.

Shoppers are fully prepared for dynamic pricing across various retail sectors, with only six per cent saying they don’t think it is fair at all for prices to change dynamically.

The study also notes that customers want the best deal and will happily search for it – only nine per cent will buy at full price and only five per cent will accept the first price they see. Additionally 81 per cent said they shop around for the best price on products they want to purchase, but surprisingly only 17 per cent said they would demand price matching on products they wish to purchase.

Revionics’ chief marketing and strategy officer Cheryl Sullivan, said: “Even before the study, our science was telling us that shopper realities were out of sync with some of the commonly held industry assumptions about shoppers expecting consistent pricing across channels, being suspicious of science-based pricing, the degree of passiveness around price matching policies and loyalty to specific channels, promotional vehicles and offer types.

“These results confirm that shoppers are even more discerning and demanding than retailers think. With consumer and market conditions change ever more rapidly, retailers need primary research and self-learning models to help them keep up with shoppers’ expectations and behaviours.”

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