Maybe c covered this somewhere, but honestly can't stay on top of things. 

Wendy's is going to introduce surge pricing, or dynamic pricing once they update all of their menu boards to be digital. 


www.foodandwine.com/wendys-introducing-dynamic-pricing-8600506


Will have to figure out the best time to get your junior bacon cheeseburger. 

This is not really surprising but it will be interesting to see how consumers react to this. So far it's USA only, but won't be surprised to see it come to Canada if Wendy's quickly realizes they're making money this way. 

Bruh

Covered this I think two years ago. Attitude then was this is simple supply and demand and it should be embraced IIRC. In the quest for infinite growth, I expect dynamic pricing to spread as it is an excuse to raise prices and pass the blame for it directly to consumers, while being shielded by the idea that the greater the demand, the higher the price.

Amazon already uses dynamic pricing as does airline and hotel industries.  Forget who else introduced it as it mostly happens behind the scenes in places with little price tracking, or places that just accept price fluctuations as the norm.

///

Just remembered, it was the NYC restaurant industry that moved to this model that was the topic of my original post.  Here was the article.


www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231101-why-surge-pricing-is-coming-at-restaurants-online-retailers-and-more

They really are trying to go out of business. Or we're dumb af and deserve to be fleeced.

I suppose that’s a better model than their current model of “surge pricing 24 hours per day every day”.

Uber uses this model, as I've learnt when trying to get a ride to my apartment on a weekend night. Costs four times as much as it does at a non-peak time.

Feb 27, 2024 13:06:04 GMT mikec said:

I suppose that’s a better model than their current model of “surge pricing 24 hours per day every day”.

If you think the price is ever going to be cheaper than the current price, I have a bridge for sale.

Yeah the assumption is that current price will be base price and will increase from there. Which kind of is why the supply and demand analogy is not truthful. Lower demand at equal supply should reduce prices, but in our current market it does not.

Feb 27, 2024 17:01:09 GMT Gyro LC said:

Feb 27, 2024 13:06:04 GMT mikec said:

I suppose that’s a better model than their current model of “surge pricing 24 hours per day every day”.

If you think the price is ever going to be cheaper than the current price, I have a bridge for sale.

My hope would be prices stop going up if I’m willing to alter my food schedule around the dynamic price gouging.

Feb 27, 2024 18:12:56 GMT mikec said:

Feb 27, 2024 17:01:09 GMT Gyro LC said:

If you think the price is ever going to be cheaper than the current price, I have a bridge for sale.

My hope would be prices stop going up if I’m willing to alter my food schedule around the dynamic price gouging.

 If everyone alters their food schedule then does the surge pricing change to 4pm instead of 6pm then? Then everyone moves back to 6pm...then back to 4pm to combat this.  Seems silly to me. 

If surge pricing comes here I have no issues with no longer eating out or if I do very rarely. 

Feb 27, 2024 18:12:56 GMT mikec said:

Feb 27, 2024 17:01:09 GMT Gyro LC said:

If you think the price is ever going to be cheaper than the current price, I have a bridge for sale.

My hope would be prices stop going up if I’m willing to alter my food schedule around the dynamic price gouging.

Perhaps they will go up slower during off-peak hours. Once people are trained to go during off-peak they will bump prices as well.

Jack in the Box near me tried to get people in during off-hours by offering certain products cheaper at night. You could get certain novelty (stoner) meals for $6 after 9 PM, but before then they were $9. I don't know how well that worked but they had them for a long time.

Feb 27, 2024 18:31:39 GMT iron maiden said:

Feb 27, 2024 18:12:56 GMT mikec said:

My hope would be prices stop going up if I’m willing to alter my food schedule around the dynamic price gouging.

 If everyone alters their food schedule then does the surge pricing change to 4pm instead of 6pm then? Then everyone moves back to 6pm...then back to 4pm to combat this.  Seems silly to me. 

If surge pricing comes here I have no issues with no longer eating out or if I do very rarely. 

People won’t. Lunches and dinners are scheduled more around routine and work than their appetite. Surge pricing isn’t really new, happy hours and the after 8 menus and whatever have been around forever. This one may be more tech advanced, but it’s not that dissimilar.

This is not the King of Burgers!

WHO IS THIS IMPOSTOR?!

I don't really understand surge pricing in restaurants as a business model.
In businesses like Uber and Lyft, the idea of surge pricing is to attract more drivers to get in the cars because the rate is higher and there are not enough cars for the customers.
Simple supply and demand response.

I cannot see how charging more when you are busy helps with staffing levels, unless the idea is to stop customers visiting in peak times and instead coming in when they are quieter.
It doesn't make a lot of sense as people get hungry at lunch time, I don't see people waiting two hours for the price to come down, but I do see them going elsewhere.

I think the way they talk about it in vendor meetings and the way they advertise it will be different. The reality is they have a base price and a peak price, the story they’ll tell us is they have a base price and a sale price depending on us coming earlier/later.

Wendy's on damage control hard today after an intense backlash to this. They are trying to walk it back, while keeping it in place claiming people merely misunderstand how adjusting prices in real time works.

Just like Xbox with DRM, they'll probably back out if it's only them doing it. Once it becomes industry standard though...

Fast food is trying to be something it isn't. They're forgetting their place in the world. It's merely good enough for the price. As prices goes up it stops being that. First they took away our dollar menu...

What they will likely do, is increase the price by a hard baseline, then reduce the cost dynamically during the day. Which is what McDonald's does with the coupons.  This is not surge pricing, during peak hours they just do not offer the discounts that are offered at other hours.  For the consumer though there is not difference between this and surge pricing however, outside of Wendy's now claiming they are saving the consumer money.

Wendys needs to work on their fry game because they should be giving those away for free.

Feb 28, 2024 20:53:12 GMT @ness said:

Wendys needs to work on their fry game because they should be giving those away for free.

I think their fries are pretty good. They are certainly better than the previous iteration. Those were a crime against potatoes.

Feb 28, 2024 22:13:51 GMT Gyro LC said:

Feb 28, 2024 20:53:12 GMT @ness said:

Wendys needs to work on their fry game because they should be giving those away for free.

I think their fries are pretty good. They are certainly better than the previous iteration. Those were a crime against potatoes.

I wonder if they still have that guarantee about fresh and crispy.

I do put their nuggets at the top of the game, at least a contender. Spicy nugs.

This is really only a boost for shift workers such as myself but I imagine like iron maiden said it will keep changing when people with more flexible schedules take advantage of it.

Be the opposite in the US. If people spread out more, then peak demand is lower and jobs can be cut. Most places are staffed to handle peak demand.

Feb 27, 2024 10:19:09 GMT @ness said:

They really are trying to go out of business. Or we're dumb af and deserve to be fleeced.

Bruh, we sooooooo fucking dumb.