Fast Food Dynamic Pricing; Bidding on Your Big Mac

Wendy's SignPhoto bySiyuan LinonUnsplash

Wendy's food chain, among others, is experimenting with what's called demand surge pricing on it's menus. That means prices can be changed instantly on menu boards, with higher prices for busier times of the day.

McDonald’s has also dabbled with dynamic pricing and new order-suggestion capabilities at some of its upgraded drive-thrus and on its app. However, the varied and inconsistent prices at its franchises have ignited outrage recently for affecting the affordability of its food.

Wendy's $20 million dollar investment in "dynamic pricing" for digital ordering is, I suppose, the logical extension of AI use, replacing a person you order from with a robot, which shoves ads at you while your ordering, or as they term it, "suggestive selling."

So if you don't like the price of your food, just wait a minute. Like Ticketmaster, the higher the demand, the higher the price.

I'm heading for the local diner.