Wendy's to try "Dynamic Pricing"

[Patty Hann]

This is a verbatim cut-and-paste from CBS news:

Patrons of Wendy's may soon pay varying prices for their burgers, as the fast-food chain intends to bring Uber-like surge pricing to its menu.

"As early as 2025, we plan to test a number of features such as AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling based on factors, such as weather, that we think will provide great value and an improved customer and crew experience," a Wendy's spokesperson told CBS News in an email.

The strategy involves so-called dynamic pricing — also known as surge pricing — which has the cost of a product or service fluctuating based on factors like rush hour and whether it's raining.
Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner told an earnings call earlier this month that Wendy's is investing $20 million to roll out digital menu boards to all U.S. company-operated restaurants by the end of 2025.

"Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings, along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling," he added. "As we continue to show the benefit of this technology in our company-operated restaurants, franchisee interest in digital menu boards should increase, further supporting sales and profit growth across the system." (Emphasis--mine--added)

I don't eat fast food, Wendy's or anyone else's. But if I did it would end when this begins.
I wonder how customers will react to this.... should be interesting, even entertaining.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

So if we all stop eating at Wendy’s, the price will go down. Awesome.

[Earl McLain]

We don't eat out much at all, and fast food (which is no longer fast) is maybe two or three times a year. We stopped at a McD's last summer or early fall, and coincidently i went to a Wendy's Monday night (2-26). In both cases, looking at the menu board seemed confusing and foreign to me already. I just wanted a cheeseburger with no fries or drink...it was tough!!

The dynamic pricing in restaurants seems like it's been in place for a long time--i'm thinking of the "lunch menu" versus "dinner menu" at the places normally go to, prices have long been different (with larger portions at dinner). Been that way for a long time. Will be new to fast food, but that's a market i only use when i have to, so minimial impact on us. If we could get away from dynamic pricing at gas stations...i'd be happy--i only need gas when it's just gone up 30 cents/gallon!!

[Patty Hann]

It's not just "time-of-day" pricing... they are also going to price according to the weather.

As early as 2025, we plan to test a number of features such as AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling based on factors, such as weather.

Gives a new meaning to "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (or maybe if it's cloudy there is no chance you will be getting meatballs, at least not cheaply)

[Steve Eure]

Seems like another legalistic term for price for price gouging to me. I quit eating at McD's recently when I ordered a biscuit meal for breakfast and they charged me $9.87 for it. I was floored. Just 3 years ago, I would go there and buy the same meal several times a month for $3,58. That's almost a 300% increase. I wish my retirement was adjusted like that!

[glenn bradley]

I wonder how customers will react to this.... should be interesting, even entertaining.

Agreed. Consumers don't often realize the power they have to speak with their wallets. If we would all have cancelled our cable TV subscriptions for even one month the first time companies tried to charge us for service AND show us commercials, the entire cable TV market would have a different business model . . . well . . . at least in my imaginary reality anyway .

P.s. I cancelled cable TV when they started showing commercials and haven't had it for longer than many adults have been alive. I seem to survive .

[Lee DeRaud]

P.s. I cancelled cable TV when they started showing commercials and haven't had it for longer than many adults have been alive. I seem to survive .

Ok, I'll bite: when did cable TV not have commercials?!? (Leaving aside premium channels like HBO etc.)

[Keith Outten]

Ok, I'll bite: when did cable TV not have commercials?!? (Leaving aside premium channels like HBO etc.)

When COX cable in our area started offering cable TV there were no commercials on any channel.

[mike stenson]

When COX cable in our area started offering cable TV there were no commercials on any channel.

That must have been before the 80s. So, fifty years ago?

[Lee DeRaud]

When COX cable in our area started offering cable TV there were no commercials on any channel.

Not quite sure I want to know how that worked. Seems like it would screw up the scheduling rather badly, as in "We'll watch 'Jeopardy' on ABC and switch over to CBS for 'Law&Order' at, um, whenever...". And I assume everything was delayed several hours so they could remove ads from the network feeds.

There are also the economics to deal with, as I assume the content providers still needed to get paid. At least there were a lot less of them back in the day.

[Brian Elfert]

Not quite sure I want to know how that worked. Seems like it would screw up the scheduling rather badly, as in "We'll watch 'Jeopardy' on ABC and switch over to CBS for 'Law&Order' at, um, whenever...". And I assume everything was delayed several hours so they could remove ads from the network feeds.

My parents got basic cable in 1991. This included just the broadcast stations plus QVC and the like. The broadcast stations still had commercials. I think when people say cable originally had no commercials they are talking about cable specific networks, not broadcast networks.

[Dave Zellers]

That was how cable was marketed in the earliest days- no commercials.

Edit- yes to Brian's post above

[Bill Howatt]

...

There are also the economics to deal with, as I assume the content providers still needed to get paid. At least there were a lot less of them back in the day.

Don't know what the deal is now and if it varies by region, haven't heard it for a while but it was not uncommon to hear, "the providers don't pass on (much?) money to the TV stations they carry".

[Dave Zellers]

Plus back in the 70's it was the only option for very rural areas.

[Lee DeRaud]

Plus back in the 70's it was the only option for very rural areas.

I recall even earlier (mid-'60s?) visiting relatives in a rural area. Their TV was "cable", but it was effectively just a boosted feed over coax from an antenna 10-15 miles away, same 3-4 broadcast channels we got in the city.