The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered retailers Walmart and Target, as well as seven transport and delivery businesses, to provide information on individualised consumer pricing and variable worker pay.

Under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, the orders direct nine major companies to disclose their use of consumer data in pricing: retailers Walmart and Target; airlines Delta, United, and JetBlue; ride-hailing firms Lyft and Uber; and delivery services DoorDash and Instacart.

The regulator is seeking information on whether prices for goods, tickets, ride shares and deliveries differ between individuals because of loyalty programme participation or algorithmic analysis of personal data.

Section 6(b) gives the FTC statutory authority to conduct broad industry studies outside specific law enforcement proceedings.

Companies have 45 days from receiving the orders to respond.

The FTC may seek to compel compliance in federal court if requested documentation is not provided.

The orders also cover variable compensation at ride-sharing and food-delivery businesses.

The FTC is seeking documents on the inputs, algorithms and procedures used to determine changing worker pay, including metrics such as phone usage and previous offer acceptance rates.

FTC chairman Andrew N Ferguson said: “We intend to scrutinise the opaque methodology that some companies in these industries may be using to determine how much consumers pay or how much gig workers are paid for the same product or service.

“Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer. Workers also deserve to know if their compensation is affected by how companies use their personal data.” 

The action replaces a mid-2024 study whose staff findings were released days before US President Donald Trump took office.

According to the FTC, the earlier study examined third-party intermediaries and consultancies rather than the businesses setting consumer prices and did not provide actionable insights into pricing mechanisms.

The FTC voted 2-0 to approve the direct special orders.

The inquiry follows an August request for public comment on a proposed enforcement policy statement concerning whether the undisclosed use of personal data to establish unique consumer prices could violate the FTC Act.