Wendy's to Implement Surge-Pricing

[Mavric]

Quote

Wendy’s is preparing to test an “Uber-style” surge-pricing model where the cost of menu items will fluctuate throughout the day based on demand — meaning a Dave’s burger will cost more during the lunch or dinner rush.

 

The fast-food chain’s unappetizing plans, set to be tested in a high-stakes rollout next year, will squeeze more money out of already inflation-battered Americans who may not have the option to eat their meals during “off-peak” hours.

 

Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner announced the new system on a call with investors, noting the Ohio-based company will invest $20 million on high-tech menu boards that will be able to update prices in real-time without incurring additional overhead costs.

 

NY Post

[JJ Husker]

Will be interesting to see how this is received. My gut feeling is peak time volume is going to dip. And considering most people eating fast food are doing it within the lunch or dinner timeframe, they won’t make up that volume at other times. Possibly they’ll end up making the same amount with less effort.  Seems like a plan that could alienate customers without much benefit. But what do I know. 

[Mavric]

3 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Will be interesting to see how this is received. My gut feeling is peak time volume is going to dip. And considering most people eating fast food are doing it within the lunch or dinner timeframe, they won’t make up that volume at other times. Possibly they’ll end up making the same amount with less effort.  Seems like a plan that could alienate customers without much benefit. But what do I know. 

 

Yeah, seems pretty suspect to me.  It seems like it would be pretty easy for a lot of people to say "we're getting charged more if we go to Wendy's right now.  Let's go somewhere else."

 

But I don't have $20M to blow so....

[teachercd]

This is really not all that different than happy hour.

 

3-5pm or something like that...4-6pm...trying to get people in to get "cheap" drinks.

 

It makes sense but like @JJ Husker I don't think it will really change much for them.

[JJ Husker]

10 minutes ago, teachercd said:

This is really not all that different than happy hour.

 

3-5pm or something like that...4-6pm...trying to get people in to get "cheap" drinks.

 

It makes sense but like @JJ Husker I don't think it will really change much for them.

Except this is the opposite of happy hour. People will show up for cheap drinks. A burger that costs more than usual at lunchtime….not so much.

 

But IDK, I’m not really their target demographic. I prob had Wendys only 2 or 3 times in the last year. I always thought fast food places loved it when cars were piled up in the drive thru while they had peak staffing scheduled. I mean it’s not like they really care about food quality or good service. I guess they want to profit even more for people with bad attitudes to throw s#!tty food in a bag and then tell you to pull ahead and wait to get the wrong things.

[teachercd]

36 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Except this is the opposite of happy hour. People will show up for cheap drinks. A burger that costs more than usual at lunchtime….not so much.

 

But IDK, I’m not really their target demographic. I prob had Wendys only 2 or 3 times in the last year. I always thought fast food places loved it when cars were piled up in the drive thru while they had peak staffing scheduled. I mean it’s not like they really care about food quality or good service. I guess they want to profit even more for people with bad attitudes to throw s#!tty food in a bag and then tell you to pull ahead and wait to get the wrong things.

Haha!

 

 

[Cdog923]

2 hours ago, JJ Husker said:

Except this is the opposite of happy hour. People will show up for cheap drinks. A burger that costs more than usual at lunchtime….not so much.

 

But IDK, I’m not really their target demographic. I prob had Wendys only 2 or 3 times in the last year. I always thought fast food places loved it when cars were piled up in the drive thru while they had peak staffing scheduled. I mean it’s not like they really care about food quality or good service. I guess they want to profit even more for people with bad attitudes to throw s#!tty food in a bag and then tell you to pull ahead and wait to get the wrong things.

 

Wendy's has one of the best chicken sandwiches in the business, and those Frostys....but yea, this is highly stupid. 

[JJ Husker]

6 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

Wendy's has one of the best chicken sandwiches in the business, and those Frostys....but yea, this is highly stupid. 

Their Frostys used to be good. They changed up something, the last 2 I’ve had were a$$. Like a McDonalds chocolate shake bad.

[Cdog923]

5 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Their Frostys used to be good. They changed up something, the last 2 I’ve had were a$$. Like a McDonalds chocolate shake bad.

 

I haven't had one in years; they used to be my dad and I's thing together. 

[Red Five]

I am boycotting Wendy's until the bring back the SuperBar.

[JJ Husker]

32 minutes ago, Red Five said:

I am boycotting Wendy's until the bring back the SuperBar.

No SuperBar, hiked up prices at times people actually want to eat, good Frostys changed for the worse. What’s next, a kick in the nuts with every order of fries? 

[Red Five]

Honestly, the last time I ate at a Wendy's may have been in high school.  There was one in the Conestoga Mall that I ate at quite a bit.  I think my go to was 2 Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, 5 piece nugget, soda.  Each was on the 99cent value menu.  Cost me like $4.25.

[teachercd]

1 hour ago, Red Five said:

Honestly, the last time I ate at a Wendy's may have been in high school.  There was one in the Conestoga Mall that I ate at quite a bit.  I think my go to was 2 Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, 5 piece nugget, soda.  Each was on the 99cent value menu.  Cost me like $4.25.

Never did Wendy's a lot BUT I always liked it.  

 

But I do miss the low fast food prices.

 

Pizza is really the only thing that you can still get a decent deal on when it comes to "fast food"

[Mavric]

11 hours ago, Red Five said:

Honestly, the last time I ate at a Wendy's may have been in high school.  There was one in the Conestoga Mall that I ate at quite a bit.  I think my go to was 2 Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, 5 piece nugget, soda.  Each was on the 99cent value menu.  Cost me like $4.25.

 

I worked a light construction job the summer after my first year of college.  The group I worked with got really good at getting the most food for the least cost at several fast food places.

 

We were really on a Wendy's kick for awhile when we could get some sort of Jr. Hamburger for $0.99.  We got get 3-4 Jr. Hamburgers and water for a few bucks.

 

After we ate three several days in a row, the following day when we went back they'd jacked the price of the Jr. Hamburger to like $1.49.  Not that it was still that bad but it was a 50% increase overnight.  We got mad and didn't go back.

[JJ Husker]

Or maybe not…

But after news outlets ran stories warning that Wendy's was planning to hike prices during the busier times of day, company executives tried to better explain what Tanner meant.

"To clarify, Wendy's will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest," Wendy's Vice President Heidi Schauer said in an email to NPR. "We didn't use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice."

Wendy's didn't provide many additional details, but it said in a separate statement that the digital menus could allow the company to offer discounts to customers during slower times of day.