Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2025

The Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2025 would ban two major pricing practices in retail grocery settings: (1) selling items at “grossly excessive” prices and (2) using surveillance-based price setting that uses personal data (including biometric data) to adjust or target prices for individual consumers or groups. The bill tasks the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with issuing rules within 180 days to define terms such as “market,” “grossly excessive price,” and “excessive price,” and to set the standard for what counts as price gouging (including a possible metric where prices are 120% of the market average over the prior six months). It also authorizes enforcement by the FTC, state attorneys general, and gives consumers the right to sue in federal court for violations, with damages and possible triple damages for willful violations. Additionally, the bill restricts surveillance-based pricing (and the use of facial recognition and electronic shelf labels to vary prices) with specific exceptions (e.g., bona fide cost differences, group discounts meeting disclosed criteria, uniform discounts for qualifying consumers, and limits on using personal data to only offer discounts). It requires clear signage for any facial-recognition use and bans electronic shelf labels in large stores (over 10,000 square feet), mandating non-digital price presentation in those stores. The act includes preemption limits, provides funding for its implementation, and creates a broad set of definitions to guide compliance.