The Cost of Inaccessibility: Retail Discrimination and Mobility-Constrained Consumers

This study investigates whether individuals with mobility-related health conditions face systematic disadvantages in retail pricing, both in physical stores and on online platforms. While price discrimination is a common feature of modern markets, limited attention has been paid to how physical mobility constraints may affect consumers' ability to access lower prices or respond to promotions. Using matched observational data from the NielsenIQ and the Open E-Commerce dataset, we compare purchasing behavior and price outcomes between consumers with and without mobility-related health conditions. We find that mobility-constrained individuals pay modestly higher prices in physical stores and face even larger price disparities in online purchases, particularly among wheelchair users. Our findings highlight mobility as an underexamined axis of vulnerability in consumer markets. The results have implications for the design of retail pricing systems and digital platforms, as well as for policy efforts aimed at improving equity in access to essential goods.