evandyk
Senior Member
It's just "happy hour".
|
|
|
Restaurant Comings & Goings
- Thread starter TOareaFan
- Start date
Richard White
Senior Member
Hold on...........LOL
Wendys wants to test 'surge pricing' or dynamic pricing...........such that your burger combo may cost significantly more or less depending on time of day and how busy they are............
Burger chain Wendy's looking to test surge pricing at restaurants as early as next year
Wendy's is looking to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy that has already taken hold with ride-sharing companieswww.thestar.com
This sounds like a PR disaster of enormous proportions.
Not my establishment of choice............but I'm just imagining the few Wendys I ever see really busy, typically ones w/drive-thrus, in evening rush.........and imagine those drivers facing 50% premiums on their orders for having the temerity to order dinner at dinner time, LOL
Wendys is backtracking on this after a rather frosty reception.
https://www.wendys.com/blog/wendys-digital-news-update
Apparently, the idea went over as well as New Coke and I suspect someone will be fired for suggesting it.
evandyk
Senior Member
" Digital menuboards 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. "
Exactly. Happy hour for fast food.
Exactly. Happy hour for fast food.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Now, that might be something to roast Wendy's on their infamous Twittterx account.
AoD
AoD
Northern Light
Superstar
Wendy's denials aside, that was not really the plan. Uber does not do 'happy hour' as such.
You make it sound like a one-way model where the price drops for the slowest hour each day.
In fact, the intent was very clearly to raise prices at peak times; and drop them based on surplus staff or fresh product that might be close to expiring.
Retail-Insider has a piece up on this, before Wendy's summarily nixed their 'Bold' plan:
Wendy’s Bold Dynamic Pricing Move Has its Positives and Negatives [Op-Ed]
Sylvain Charlebois discusses the unusual move by Wendy's in the US to implement dynamic pricing, and how it could benefit the business while potentially turning off consumers.
retail-insider.com
****
I actually favour dynamic pricing expressly to move 'fresh' inventory that would otherwise be binned. But I think it needs to be very strategically applied, without raising base-pricing.
In the case of Wendys, they bring their beef patties in fresh, not frozen, so the lifespan is really short. If, due to poor/great weather or some other unexpected event, they appear on pace to have to bin 100 patties at the end of day, it makes all the sense in the world that they drop burgers to 1/2 price for a couple of hours. That gets Wendys some revenue instead of none and saves on disposal costs. No one would object to that; but dinner-peak pricing would roil people, as it did in this case.
In the world of grocers, I've advocated for this idea of meat pricing, but not the way its done now, where they wait til the meat is looking sad and has to get sold in the next 12 hours. Instead, I would price it so that its full price on day one when it goes out, and it steadily drops in price as it gets closer to expiry. This requires electronic tags w/sell-by dates embedded. Its not difficult to do, but would be a transition for the industry.
In store ground beef generally has a 48-hour lifespan in most grocers; so I would price it at $15 per kg the day it hits the shelf, $10 a kg on day 2, and $5 a kg for must sell now.
Alternatively, I've suggested stores flash-freeze expiring product, then knock 60% of the price off.
The assumption though, is that you will always be able to buy 'fresh product' at today's price, and what's being discounted is what would have been binned.
Generally, this should not apply to shelf-stable or long-life items. There's also a need to keep prices consistent. I think dynamic pricing in travel, for instance actually hurts the industry at this point, because it makes prices wildly unpredictable, and and supply of seats similarly unpredictable. It has a place, but it ought to be moderately less dynamic.
evandyk
Senior Member
This is how the Wendys CEO described it. The Star headlined it as "surge pricing" but Wendy's never said that.
"Suggestive selling" and "daypart offerings" both indicate happy hour type pricing, not Uber-type surge pricing.
"Suggestive selling" and "daypart offerings" both indicate happy hour type pricing, not Uber-type surge pricing.
Richard White
Senior Member
What that means is that they are going to change prices based on what is not selling and what time of day it is.
Richard White
Senior Member
Fun fact:
Wendys Chili actually uses burger meat they cannot sell. Back in the day when I worked there, they would take mangled burgers from the grill and use them for chili.
The meat does not go to waste but again.. I never did buy into the fresh, never frozen mantra. It's not like they had a beef delivery every morning.
Northern Light
Superstar
Sigh.
The media all broadly reported the same thing, not just 'The Star'.
Industry experts who know what Wendy's plans are also commented that this was the plan.
The term Wendy's used was dynamic pricing, which is the same model; you don't change the price at different dayparts for the hell of it, you do it to match demand to supply and optimize margins.
evandyk
Senior Member
OK, so the Star and other media broadly reported something he didn't say, forcing Wendys to clarify, which they did.
Northern Light
Superstar
Not accurate.
I don't know why you're adamant that every industry follower and media outlet is wrong, and you're right, but it ain't so.
Fritter
Active Member
In the Retail Insider article it is suggested that other fast food places may be currently doing this, albeit quietly on the down low. Wendy's was just the first to publicly announce it.
AlbertC
Superstar
Burger's Priest will be closing their original (?) location at 1636 Queen St E (east of Coxwell), and moving into a new location further east at 1922 Queen St E (a couple blocks east of Woodbine) in the Beaches area:
streetsoftoronto.com
Iconic Toronto eatery Burger's Priest is closing its OG location but there's more
Sunday will be the last day that Torontonians can redeem their burgers “one at a time” at The Burger's Priest’s staple location.
streetsoftoronto.com
bAuHaUs
Active Member
Yes, the original (OJ) that Shant himself opened June 2010. It was time to move to a bigger spot..Burger's Priest will be closing their original (?) location at 1636 Queen St E (east of Coxwell), and moving into a new location further east at 1922 Queen St E (a couple blocks east of Woodbine) in the Beaches area:
Iconic Toronto eatery Burger's Priest is closing its OG location but there's more
Sunday will be the last day that Torontonians can redeem their burgers “one at a time” at The Burger's Priest’s staple location.
bAuHaUs
Active Member
Lonestar Texas Grill piloting a new "Cantina" concept, and their Whitby Centrum location will get the massive makeover.
