Reply With QuoteFortunately, no one has to eat at Wendy's at peak times or any other times.
What is dynamic pricing in the fast food industry? Wendy’s restaurants to implement the technology in 2025
Wendy’s is gearing up to be a stronger player in the fast-food industry by expanding its investments in technology. Last year, the company launched its generative AI platform which they call Wendy’s Fresh AI.
This system automates the chain’s drive-thru experience, which the company says benefits customers because of the resulting speed and accuracy of service.
Digital menus, dynamic pricing, daypart offerings
The Ohio-based fast food chain plans to go even further next year by investing millions in digital menu boards that aim to improve order accuracy and increase upselling. They intend to roll out the boards as early as next year.
The company will also test advanced features of the menu boards such as dynamic pricing and daypart offerings.
Common dayparts in the restaurant business are breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and late night. Restaurants often divide the day into multiple dayparts to tailor their operations and menu offerings to meet the needs and preferences of customers at different times of the day. Wendy’s has already invested heavily in their four-year-old breakfast menu.
What is dynamic pricing in the fast-food industry?
Dynamic pricing is the practice of adjusting menu prices in real-time based on various factors such as demand, time of day, day of the week, and other market conditions.
Demand-based pricing uses data analytics and technology to analyze demand patterns and adjust prices accordingly. Prices are likely to be higher during peak mealtimes when demand is high, and lower during slower periods to attract customers.
This pricing strategy allows restaurants to maximize their earnings by charging different prices for the same menu items at different times. Dynamic pricing is already being used by restaurants, although at a more basic level. The concept of early-bird specials and happy hour, for example, adjusts the prices down during what are commonly low-traffic hours.
With the use of advanced technology, Wendy’s hopes to make more accurate adjustments in price that will help increase their revenue and attract customers.
Fortunately, no one has to eat at Wendy's at peak times or any other times.
Ultimately that could blow it up in their face. Very few places is there a monopoly of one fast food place. Most places you find a Wendys there is a BK and McD not far off when it comes to fast food.
Today we sail
On the Solar Rail
For there's much we just don't know
So farewell with a kiss
Then it's fast for the mist
Till we're sleeping in the cold below
Last time I went to Wendys a basic hamburger meal was something like $13. For that price I'd rather spend $15 just a half mile down the street at a much nicer place. McDonalds has likewise gotten nutty with pricing. Even with the kids, for the prices of the cheap fast food I'd rather bump up to a nice sit down place.
Rubbing alcohol is for wounds on the outside, but drinking alcohol is for wounds on the inside.
Yeah, you do that by having more desirable menu options at more competitive prices than the other guys.Wendy’s is gearing up to be a stronger player in the fast-food industry
When Chipotle was brand new EVERYONE AND THEIR DAMN BROTHER was going there because the food was delicious, affordable, and had just enough variety to cover just about everyone who would eat anything vaguely mexican.
They used all of that popularity to go to shit eventually but they wouldn't have GOTTEN THERE without that particular combination.
Wendy's could just go do THAT with burgers and chicken nuggets (pricing and quality, that is) and they'd ABSOLUTELY be a stronger player. Market-dominating, even.
For copyright purposes, all of my posts are covered under the "Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License"
http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/
Noone should sue or be sued ambiguously.
They're owned by a venture capital company now, quality is not on the menu. Wendy's used to have a degree of quality over the other chains, and they had some fairly unique offerings (Frosty, chili, baked potato).
Well, that's the most dystopian thing I've heard yet today.Originally Posted by Delores Mulva
I suppose there's time still.
For copyright purposes, all of my posts are covered under the "Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License"
http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/
Noone should sue or be sued ambiguously.
I mean there is a reason that employees in companies that get bought by these firms call it "Vulture Capital", the outcome is rarely good.
Today we sail
On the Solar Rail
For there's much we just don't know
So farewell with a kiss
Then it's fast for the mist
Till we're sleeping in the cold below
Wendy's launches $1 burger deal after customers threaten boycott over 'surge pricing'
Fast-food chain Wendy's apparent generosity has backfired after customers ridiculed the company for offering dollar burgers. On the surface, the discount promotion is part of its 'March Madness' deals with Dave's Single only $1 and Dave's Double at $2 when bought on the restaurant's app until April 10.
However, some cynical customers noted that the sale comes after the company apparently announced it could be introducing so-called 'dynamic pricing' across certain stores next year. Also known as 'surge pricing', it would mean Wendy's food prices rising and falling throughout the day depending on how busy a store was, with the most expensive being during peak periods.
Writing on Reddit, one disgruntled user seethed: "Nah they can all go straight to Hell. I don’t care what they offer on their menu for what price, I’ll never eat there again." Another added: "They're probably doing this to goad people to get the app now before the inevitable price increase and reintroducing their surge pricing scheme later when people forget about their recent blunder," and one just stated: "Nice try Wendy’s."
Elsewhere, a customer said: "Wendy's is dead to me ever since they suggested price surging." But not everyone was as damning towards the burger joint, as someone responded: "They have been doing March Madness deals for the past several years, and the $1 Dave’s Singles for at least the past few."
The customer furor began at the end of last month during CEO Kirk Tanner's call with investors where it was announced that $20 million would be spent on high-tech menu boards to help keep the prices updated in real-time. He said: "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."
His words were taken by many as a sign that surge pricing was on the horizon. Angry customers threatened to boycott the chain if the move was ever implemented, with one Reddit post called 'Stop Buying Wendy's' and seeing hundreds of comments in agreement.
However, on February 27 the company released a statement indicating it had no plans to introduce a surge in prices and that the CEO's comments were misunderstood, adding that, "We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most.
"Any features we may test in the future would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members. Digital menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day."
Wendy's offering a bucket of chicken only at these locations
Ever since Wendy's announced a limited-time 50 chicken nuggets meal in early May, food influencers have been scouring their neighborhoods to get their hands on the coveted bucket.
YouTuber Morgan Chomps said she drove a half hour just to pick up the new menu item, called the Nuggs Party Pack.
'You know what, it was worth it,' she said in a video.
'My mom and I had a fun time watching them assemble this bucket. They took the entire basket of nuggets out of the fryer and just dumped it into this bucket.'
Wendy's didn't offer a definitive price for the bucket but did say the nuggets can either be crispy or spicy.
Morgan said her bucket came with 10 sauce containers, which customers can mix and match between Ghost Pepper Ranch, BBQ, Sweet & Sour, Honey Mustard or Buttermilk Ranch.
The fanfare over the new menu item comes months after Wendy's came under fire for considering implementing surge-pricing on their menu in order to charge more during peak times.
The overwhelming backlash to the plan got the company to back down and the CFO to say 'I don't think we're going to get too greedy.'
Since the Nuggs Party Pack is limited to participating locations in the US, Wendy's commissioned an interactive map of which restaurants are serving up the 50-nugget deal.
The designer of McBroken, a site that tracks which McDonald's restaurants have broken ice cream machines are broken, created the map for Wendy's.
Another influencer, HellthyJunkFood, posted her experience ordering the bucket at Wendy's drive-through.
It set her back $15.96, which according to her math was around $0.30 per nugget. So in her case, the nugget bucket is a better deal than the 10-piece meal, which averages out at around $0.47 per nugget.
'Tastes better when it's cheaper,' she said.
Though, she didn't get a bucket like Morgan did and was instead handed a plastic to-go container with nuggets rattling around inside.
Her video, which got 78,000 likes, had many people in the comments reacting, mainly to the price.
Over a dozen viewers said that this bucket of nuggets has been around at their Wendy's for months or even years - and that the price used to be around $10.
'It used to be $9.99 lol my kids have been getting this 1 time a month...' one person wrote.
Walmart may be next with 'Dynamic pricing' ...
Walmart is replacing its price labels with digital screens—but the company swears it won’t use it for surge pricing
Wendy's also claimed Dynamic pricing and Surge pricing weren't the same thing when their plans got out...
Kroger, America's biggest supermarket chain, is being investigated over its use of electronic price labels on store shelves nationwide.
Kroger, America's biggest supermarket chain, is being investigated over its use of electronic price labels on store shelves nationwide.
US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey announced they were looking into the practice to see if the chain was engaging in surge pricing.
So-called 'dynamic pricing' is common in other industries, such as flights, hotels and car-sharing services like Uber. It sees customers paying more or less depending on demand.
But it can be controversial especially around essential items like groceries - and raises concerns that companies may start forcing customers to pay more at busy times.
Kroger is not the only big name to use it. Walmart - the biggest retailer overall in the US - announced in June it was planning to introduce digital shelf labels in thousands of stores. It is not clear if they will also be probed.
In a letter to Kroger's CEO Rodney McMullen, the senators expressed worries that the technology could be used to gouge customers and hike grocery prices during peak shopping times.
Kroger began testing the technology - which it calls 'electronic shelving labels' - in 2018 and has since expanded it to 500 stores across the US.
The lawmakers requested information from the chain on how it uses the tech and its justification, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
'These digital price tags may enable Kroger and other grocery chains to transition to 'dynamic pricing,' in which the price of basic household goods could surge based on the time of day, the weather, or other transitory events – allowing stores to calibrate price increases to extract maximum profits at a time when the amount of Americans' income spent on food is at a 30-year high,' the letter read.
'Widespread adoption of digital price tags appears poised to enable large grocery stores to squeeze consumers to increase profits,' it continued.
The lawmakers noted how analysts have indicated how the widespread use of dynamic pricing could result in groceries and other consumer goods becoming 'priced like airline tickets'.
They said this would create a sense of urgency and scarcity which could allow sellers to 'extract the maximum amount of profit from each customer.'
Kroger, which operates 2,750 stores in 35 states, said that their strategy is to lower prices to attract customers.
A spokesperson told the Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Kroger's business model is to lower prices over time so that more customers shop with us. Everything we do is designed to support this strategy, and customers are shopping more with Kroger now than ever because we are fighting inflation and providing great value.
'Any test of electronic shelf tags is to lower prices more for customers where it matters most. To suggest otherwise is not true.'
However the company did not address specific questions about the use of the tech and how frequently it changes prices, the outlet said.
Kroger is the largest supermarket operator in the United States, boasting over 400,000 employees and nearly 3,000 stores across the country,' the letter from the senators added.
'It is outrageous that, as families continue to struggle to pay to put food on the table, grocery giants like Kroger continue to roll out surge pricing and other corporate profiteering schemes.'
They demanded that Kroger answer their questions by August 20.
Meanwhile, Walmart said the new technology would give customers 'an even better shopping experience' as it began testing it this year.
It also said it saved employees making weekly updates to shelf labels, which typically took a store worker about two days.
One retail expert told DailyMail.com that Walmart, at least, was very unlikely to roll out surge-style pricing.
Retail expert Neil Saunders, from analysts Global Data, told DailyMail.com: 'Walmart won’t move to dynamic pricing by changing loads of prices depending on what time of day you shop.
'That goes against the company's philosophy of providing everyday low prices and it would annoy their consumers.'
Wendy's faced backlash earlier this year after DailyMail.com revealed the fast food giant had plans to introduce an 'Uber surge-style menu' with different prices depending on the time of the day.
The company then quickly U-turned on its plans, insisting that it never intended to raise prices when demand was high - only to lower them at 'slower times of the day'.
Meanwhile, Kroger came under fire in June for stealing promotional photos from a family-owned peach business.
The Peach Truck, which has been operating in Georgia for 12 years, discovered that not only had Kroger announced its own service to sell the fruit from brightly colored trucks but that it had also used images from his company's Instagram.
Why is dynamic pricing not OK for grocers?
I have about 15 different angles to point at this as pros and cons, but i'll just stick to the one which I have professional experience with in my field.
Ever go to your local Kroger, and input your telephone number on the credit card sigcap?
That information is for your points! YAY!
But it is also for
1) Your Zip Code
3) your address
2) times of day you shop
3) items you buy
4) how often you buy particular items
This makes it great to market items that they have surplus to you with various app-based digitial coupons and what not.
BUt the zip code information, your entire communityt hat uses your grocery store can be easily blended into the prices that are acceptable for the times you shop.
People of lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to shop very late in the evening, or in the very early morning, as this surrounds the times they get off of work.
Potentially, the grocer, Kroger, *could* market their goods to lower prices for the lower socioeconomic folks, or they could raise their prices to prejudice the type of shopper they want in the store and at what times.
I could go into a whole lot more of the uses for this marketing data, but it gets royally fucked, potentially, for certain socioeconomic groups.
I would ask, Why should dynamic pricing ever be okay in the retail food space? All it can lead to is price gouging and fucking over people in lower income brackets, The more regulations to prevent this shit the better.
Today we sail
On the Solar Rail
For there's much we just don't know
So farewell with a kiss
Then it's fast for the mist
Till we're sleeping in the cold below
Maryland to Become First US State to Ban Surveillance Pricing That Charges More After Mining Personal Data
Maryland is set to become the first US state to ban surveillance pricing in retail grocery stores, after the legislature last week passed the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act.
Also known as dynamic or personalized pricing, surveillance pricing is when a store charges different shoppers different prices for the same item at the same time, based on something the store “knows” about them as an individual.
Governor Wes Moore said he will sign the bill into law, which stops large retailers from using personal data to change prices in real-time, while still allowing for promotional offers and loyalty program benefits.
American consumers are subject to dynamic pricing millions of times every day when they are buying airline tickets online, using Uber, or ordering anything on Amazon.com.
This new law, introduced by Gov. Moore, was prompted by concerns that major retailers, such as Walmart, are adopting digital price tags on their shelves that can change instantly by using predictive technology to manipulate prices and hurt average consumers.
“At a time when Marylanders are already stretched by the rising cost of groceries, housing, and everyday necessities, we must ensure that new technologies are not used to drive up the bill for working families.” said the Democratic governor in January.
Consumer Reports lobbied for the bill, but says the final draft of H.B. 895 “falls short of adequately protecting consumers”, after the Maryland Retail Alliance, which strongly opposed the bill, successfully added several exemptions.
“Retailers have a lot of data about individual shoppers; how often we search for or hover over particular items, whether we live near competitor stores, inferences about our likes and dislikes, our dietary needs, our income, our family size, and more. Surveillance pricing allows companies to take advantage of that information asymmetry and charge you as much as they think you’re individually willing to pay,” said Grace Gedye, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports (CR).
For instance, one Kroger’s shopper in Oregon requested their data under a state privacy law and received a 62-page profile—and most of the inferences were wrong.
The loopholes CR identified that weakened the bill, ironically included the exemption for loyalty or membership programs, because those prices are allowed to be raised—becoming more expensive than standard prices.
The good news is many other states are considering surveillance pricing bans including California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and others—and maybe those states will resist adding loopholes.
The key provisions of the Maryland act, which will go into effect on October 1, 2026, include:
- Grocery stores are required to keep their prices fixed for at least one business day to prevent hourly price spikes.
- Retailers are prohibited from using surveillance data—such as a customer’s shopping habits, ethnicity, or income—to set different prices for different individuals.
- Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive trade practices, but businesses only face fines of up to $10,000 for a first offense and up to $25,000 for subsequent violations.
CR described the bill’s enforcement provisions as weak, especially because consumers are not permitted to sue companies if they’ve been subject to surveillance pricing—a departure from Maryland’s primary consumer protection law. Only the Maryland Attorney General can bring suits, and is required to send companies a notice that they’ve violated the law and give them 45 days to fix violations without further legal ramification.
Still, watch out for apps
And, it’s not just brick-and-mortar stores that are suspected of over-charging. Last December, Consumer Reports published an investigation into Instacart’s pricing tactics. CR had nearly 400 consumers shop for the same basket of goods at the same time.
Analysis of the shopping data found that consumers were paying different prices for the same products from the same store at the same time.
The investigation found that Instacart’s algorithmic pricing experiments could result in price differences as high as 23% for certain products and could cost families more than $1,200 a year at checkout.
Soon after, Instacart announced in a company blog post that it would end the program that resulted in different shoppers being shown different prices for groceries on its platform.
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