The message from this story is that AI drives the price up whenever it can. Some people are shown one price, while others are shown a different price -- for the same item. This is because the price-bots have become sophisticated enough to know how much you can afford, and possibly even how much you're willing to spend.
But when I go to the grocery store and I see items that are MARKED DOWN for quick sale, I grab stuff quickly that would never be shown or suggested to the cellphone shoppers. Why is that? Because the marked-down items are only going to be there for less than a day, and then they're gone. The replacements will be higher priced of course - or maybe they will be discontinued altogether.
Certain stores are colloquially known as "ghetto stores" - not because of racism, but because the regular customers may be low income and may be lacking a car or easy transportation. If they live nearby they're going to shop more often, perhaps buy less per visit, and carry the groceries home themselves. Stores know that these "ghetto" customers have fewer options than those in the suburbs.
These issues are all related - where there is COMPETITION the prices are LOWER than where competition is minimal.
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