Who wants to go into business selling bricks near their HQ to angry consumers.
I'm going to beat the rush and stop eating there now.
Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
11–20 of 98 posts
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#12It would be less aggravating to consumers if they framed it as off-peak discounts, rather than letting it be compared to surge pricing. Eg, they'd have a list price as their max price, and they could vary the discount throughout the day..
This actually means something different. Notably its obviously a lie if your price floats up from your present baseline. People are stupid but they aren't that stupid.
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#13Fast food prices have already gotten exhorbitent and they think people would be willing to pay more? McDonald’s just released a statement that they’ve pushed prices up too far and as a result are seeing declining revenues. And another wild card…as more people start using Ozempic, fewer people will eat these health destructive meals.
the threat isn’t so much “more” as “mystery.” you can plan for four fries instead of five if the cost goes from a buck to a buck and a quarter. but what if you don’t know how much it will cost? it doesn’t matter if you can afford a baconator right now. it matters if you can afford it in line, and you may not know until you get there. as if that’s not enough manipulation, maybe you can get a deal if you change your sc…
It's worth calling out the price also will never get lower (unless shrinkflation is involved,) so it will never be plan to get 4 fries and get 5.
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#14The Wendy's by me is always empty. What's the opposite of surge pricing? Clearance?
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#15Do people really eat at these places because they find the food "special" or is it just the price?
I don't know about special, but it's not just the price, especially in emerging markets, where these places are often priced more toward the luxury or at least mid-range.
There's possibly a niche opening up for actually-cheap convenience food, but I don't know how good a business that would be.
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#16"Dynamic pricing is a relatively new concept in the fast-food world, with little precedent" Yes, because they're are lots of options. You charge too much and I'll just go next door.
>Yes, because they're are lots of options. You charge too much and I'll just go next door. Sure, but thats how all markets work. When I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich™, I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich™. And there are no substitutes. The whole point of this would be that Wendy's dynamically accounts for this to an acceptable degree I don't cancel altogether. People who want a cheaper meal can go elsewhere, and I can ge…
> crews are blown out to the max with mobile orders these days
Why would the way the order is made make any difference?
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#17I think I'm in the minority of people who don't have a problem with surge pricing in principle. But this seems dumb. Varying prices like this pisses people off, and doing so for $2 (at most) hardly seems worth it.
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#18Dynamic pricing makes it hard to know what you're going to pay. If they don't let consumers observe the price remotely they might just opt out instead of rolling the dice. Tesla's supercharging pricing is about to get me to that point. I know that I can go to select charging points at specific times of the week, else it is cheaper to charge at home. I can live with that, as long as it is predictable. What I won't do is constantly check the price to see if it is reasonable. With fast food I would not even bother.
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Yes, because they're are lots of options. You charge too much and I'll just go next door. Sure, but thats how all markets work. When I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich™, I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich™. And there are no substitutes. The whole point of this would be that Wendy's dynamically accounts for this to an acceptable degree I don't cancel altogether. People who want a cheaper meal can go elsewhere, and I can ge…
> crews are blown out to the max with mobile orders these days Why would the way the order is made make any difference?
>Why would the way the order is made make any difference?
It's the volume. Fast food work used to come in rushes, with a volume limited by the physical location. Now for many locations it's a nonstop queue of online orders from half a dozen systems from the first minute you open to the last minute you close. Great for business terrible for humans.
Re: Wendy's Wants to Start Uber-Like Surge Pricing in 2025
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Yes, because they're are lots of options. You charge too much and I'll just go next door. Sure, but thats how all markets work. When I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich™, I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich™. And there are no substitutes. The whole point of this would be that Wendy's dynamically accounts for this to an acceptable degree I don't cancel altogether. People who want a cheaper meal can go elsewhere, and I can ge…
> crews are blown out to the max with mobile orders these days Why would the way the order is made make any difference?
A physical line has historically been a de facto surge price. You have to pay the cost of the meal plus your own opportunity cost of waiting in line. The long line is also a signal of how long your food will really take.
Mobile options almost completely eliminated that, so you have way more orders at a time than you otherwise would (or the restaurant needs a digital queue of some sort)