The news: Consumer pushback against personalized and real-time dynamic pricing continues to gain steam.

For the second time in the past few weeks, Walmart is publicly rebutting claims that it uses—or plans to use—consumers’ personal information or changing conditions, such as the weather, to raise prices. “Walmart does not and will not use an individual customer’s personal information, income, shopping history, urgency or willingness to pay to set an individualized price,” Dan Bartlett, Walmart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, wrote in a public letter to Lindsay Owens, author of the recently released book Gouged. The book describes Walmart’s rollout of digital shelf labels as infrastructure that could enable real-time dynamic pricing.

“We do not engage in dynamic pricing, raising prices in response to a hot afternoon or an approaching snowstorm,” Bartlett wrote.

McDonald’s is facing a different pricing controversy. The company is fighting a class action lawsuit that claims it violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms that rely on nonpublic data. Like Walmart, McDonald’s has pushed back against characterizations of its system as AI or dynamic pricing.

“McDonald’s does not use dynamic pricing,” the company wrote, adding that while it provides franchisees with “tools, resources, research and recommendations,” individual franchisees independently set menu prices.

Why it matters: Wendy’s learned two years ago how quickly the words “dynamic pricing” can spark a backlash. Then-CEO Kirk Tanner said the company’s rollout of digital menu boards would enable it to test dynamic pricing and day-part offerings, raising concerns that a customer ordering a small fry at 3pm could pay a different price than someone ordering the same item three hours later. The comments attracted national attention, prompting Wendy’s to clarify that it had no plans to raise prices when demand was highest.

That episode showed how quickly consumers can equate more sophisticated pricing technology with surge pricing—and helps explain why Walmart and McDonald’s are pushing back so forcefully now. When it comes to pricing, perception can matter nearly as much as reality. Even if a retailer or restaurant isn’t using personalized or dynamic pricing, consumers who believe they’re being charged based on what a company thinks they’ll pay may lose trust—and take their spending elsewhere.

That risk is particularly acute at a time when consumer confidence is near historic lows and shoppers are already frustrated by high prices and becoming more deliberate about where they spend.

Recommendation for retailers and restaurants: Transparency is more important than ever. As retailers and restaurants adopt more sophisticated pricing technology, they should proactively explain how prices are set, what data goes into those decisions, and which practices are off limits. Otherwise, they risk letting consumers fill in the blanks—and having to correct the narrative after the fact.

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