Wendy's will spend $20 million on digital menus to introduce customers to "dynamic pricing"

[Endymio]

As you yourself point out in a later post, significant discounts for off-peak eating are hardly new.

If your argument is the price changes will be so minor as to be insignificant, then there's really no point

True. But to clarify, my point was that the upside price change would be minor in comparison to the off-peak reduction.

What you did not address and what is brand new to any restaurant I know of, is the "surprise" aspect of you do not know the pricing until you have driven to the store...

The vast majority of restaurants I've attended have had this surprise factor: until being seated and handed a menu, the prices were unknown. And, for a few higher-end establishments, not even the menu had pricing; the charges were a complete mystery until the check arrived.

Not truly comparable to the fast-food sphere, obviously. But Wendy's knows their market as well as anyone here. This a pilot program; they'll start with very small variations and experiment from there.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

On the contrary; I've experienced it for well over half a century. Airlines, hotels and resorts, many other sectors have always adjusted pricing around peak periods. Even ordinary, non-fast food restaurants have done this throughout history. Why do you think "lunch entrees" are so much cheaper than dinners, or why bars have "Happy Hours"?


Why not stop to think instead of blindly posting? This chain will still be competing with restaurants not doing surge pricing. They'll thus only be able to boost pricing very slightly in peak periods, if at all. This will certainly be primarily a tool to attract more traffic in off-peak hours.

If you honestly think that a corporation is spending $20 MILLION to implement a system that will only increase prices "slightly"; whose sole purpose is to find ways to increase prices and revenue, then nothing I say will convince you otherwise. I envy your optimism, but not your naivete.

There is a huge difference between a bar offering a "happy hour" and a restaurant applying surge pricing while you are standing in line for a product, especially given we know how much this industry loves to screw over its employees and pass the costs onto the customer. They deserve no benefit of doubt.

 

[mrtraver]

There are way more choices to grab lunch than there are to catch a rideshare after a concert or sporting event.
Although Wendy's was never near the top of my go-to places for lunch, I would occasionally stop by. But just the fact that they are looking for new and creative ways to price gouge just knocked them off my list permanently.

 

[Watzupken]

Surge pricing on hotels, ride hailing, flights, etc, are avoidable because they are in a way nice to have luxuries, and you can avoid it if its out of your budget. To implement it for buying food is potentially unfair practice. Sure one can walk away and go somewhere else, but the problems are, you may not have an immediate alternative in the vicinity, or, you have queued for some time and by the time you get to the counter, the price have gone up. So are you to walk away, or are you forced to stick around given that you only have an hour lunch which will be deemed peak hours for sure? Dinner is another thing because generally people are not time constraint to stick around if the price is absurd. The fundamental problem with surge pricing is opacity of the algo on how it derives the price. In simple and logical term, it will be about demand vs supply, and, peak vs non-peak hours. But in reality, nobody can confidently tell how the surge price is 2 or 3x more.

 

[Endymio]

If you honestly think that a corporation is spending $20 MILLION to implement a system that will only increase prices "slightly"; whose sole purpose is to find ways to increase prices and revenue, then nothing I say will convince you otherwise...

Oops! That cost is for all-new digital menu boards, of which the surge pricing system is just one small component. And Wendys earns over $2B per year -- a $20M cost is trivial.

this industry loves to screw over its employees and pass the costs onto the customer. They deserve no benefit of doubt.

This isn't rocket science, even if some of you make it appear so. Companies don't need whacky excuses to raise prices -- if the only goal was "higher prices", they'd simply raise them.

Companies succeed only by giving customers what they want. No one's going to be standing in line and see the price of their burger raise dramatically -- if at all. The system will likely signal upcoming price changes well in advance, so anyone in a store will know the actual price the moment they enter.

 

[umeng2002]

Just preying on the people dumb enough to eat fast food.

 

[nicoff]

I'm staggered that Wendy's doesn't have digital menus. In Australia, all the major chains (McD's, KFC etc etc) have digital menus. I haven't seen major chain fast food with a non-LCD screen menu for years.

Surge pricing is an interesting concept that won't work. Consumers will vote with their feet.

 

[SpatulaCity]

So the employees can expect to get surge pay also right?

 

[zamroni111]

I wonder where Kirk Tanner got his MBA lobotomy.

If the price changes between the time I walk in the door and the time I order, I'm out. I'll even go somewhere more expensive if they're not trying to screw me. No fast food burger is that important.

it seems they are testing some AI things

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

We use to criticize a Mcdonalds hamburger in Japan being expensive but now it's reversed at least for now.

 

[ZedRM]

Wendy's has not been relevant in many decades. Can't remember the last time I went there. Taco Bell started something similar last year. McDonalds the year before. I rarely eat out anymore anyway. In my book, they can all go to blazes.

Bye bye Wendy's. I'll miss the Frosty's. Won't miss the greasy burgers or soggy bacon. You can join the list of sad and pathetic places I'll never visit again.

So the employees can expect to get surge pay also right?

If you really believe that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn NY I'd like to sell you!

 

[yRaz]

On the contrary; I've experienced it for well over half a century. Airlines, hotels and resorts, many other sectors have always adjusted pricing around peak periods. Even ordinary, non-fast food restaurants have done this throughout history. Why do you think "lunch entrees" are so much cheaper than dinners, or why bars have "Happy Hours"?


Why not stop to think instead of blindly posting? This chain will still be competing with restaurants not doing surge pricing. They'll thus only be able to boost pricing very slightly in peak periods, if at all. This will certainly be primarily a tool to attract more traffic in off-peak hours.

I'm having a very difficult time believing you're comparing happy hour, something used by bars and restaurants to boost sales during periods of low volume between lunch and dinner and that of a company raising prices during periods of high volume.

 

[ZedRM]

I'm having a very difficult time believing you're comparing happy hour, something used by bars and restaurants to boost sales during periods of low volume between lunch and dinner and that of a company raising prices during periods of high volume.

Flawed logic you say? No, say it ain't so..

 

[Flynace]

Nothing new here…I remember when the $0.29 Hamburger Stand chain would run ‘specials’ of “3 for a $1”…

 

[MarkHughes]

"What do you do? " Walk out and don't go back... It's not like there isn't choice when it comes to food.

 

[Icysoul]

So it's not enough that I had limited time or budget and had to go to a fast-food instead of a restaurant, plus I needed to wait in line, hungry - now I have to pay extra, the LONGER I wait?

Sure! Just make sure your tables are glued to the floor, Wendy's...

 

[Thanthan]

How about some Dynamic Salaries for the restaurant personnel.

That is the one saving grace of surge pricing for taxis. Supply is partially fluid, as drivers can decide to specifically work in busy hours. This is not the case for fast food, the staff is there… and you ain’t calling in an extra employee every time there’s a line… it’s just price gouging.

 

[thelatestmodel]

If they've got any sense at all, they will see the vitriol that's being generated online this morning as a result of this announcement and backpedal immediately.

 

[FaTaL]

I rarely ,if ever, eat fast food , but Wendys can officially suck my 8===D. I'll eat a 12 hour old hot dog from 7eleven before giving them my money.

Business software analytics firm Capterra conducted a survey showing that only 34 percent of consumers think dynamic pricing is reasonable for customers

These are the woke elitist scumbags who don't eat food using dynamic pricing model , but are collecting profits.

 

[Endymio]

So the employees can expect to get surge pay also right?

Sure. During slack periods where the employees do nothing but text on their phones, their pay will be correspondingly reduced.

Supply is partially fluid, as drivers can decide to specifically work in busy hours. This is not the case for fast food, the staff is there… and you ain’t calling in an extra employee every time there’s a line

Your logic is entirely backwards. The staff is there -- but that staff can only serve so many customers per hour. And your taxi example actually contradicts your argument, as there are actually **less** drivers during off-peak periods ... yet the prices are lower. Oops.

… it’s just price gouging.

Again, use logic not your emotions. If the goal were merely to "gouge prices", why not simply raise them throughout the entire day? That would generate even more revenue, right?

 

[MasterMace]

States' attorney general gonna have fun slapping lawsuits, and they should be taking it out of the Board of Directors asses

 

[stewi0001]

Learn to cook. It is a basic skill that is timelessly relevant to our existence. Stop feeding into being so damn lazy, happy people work hard, happy people create things. Why not start with creating what you put in your body?

My wife and I cook 7 nights a week at home, meal prep for lunch and eat oatmeal, berries and eggs for breakfast. Our dinners contain protein, veggies, starches, sauces, nutrients and we constantly break down the ingredients of our shopping trip to under $2-$3 per adult per dinner. On my lone, lazy nights I grill up a piece of fish or chicken, dice up a zucchini, saute it with salt pepper, put it over some rice, add sriracha sauce and I'm good to go. Cheap, delicious and takes under 30 min.

please feel free to share more recipes

 

[stewi0001]

I don't for see a good ROI on this. I think any profits gained from it will only counter the cost to maintain this new system.

 

[kira setsu]

I wonder who will buy the wendys bldg near me when it goes out of business? I hope its a place with some common sense.

 

[gamerk2]

That is a great way to stop people from using your restaurant chain.

Until every other chain follows suit because

a: competition on price is bad
b: profits!