My local Wendy’s doesn’t have “peak rush” or “off hours.” It is in a major shopping area, and is right off a highway, so it’s busy pretty much all day. It is also very near about 15 other fast food and sit down restaurants, so I’m not sure Dynamic pricing would accomplish much unless all the restaurants coordinated, because everyone would just go elsewhere.
I agree with this. My Sonic has happy hour for drinks. My sister goes to happy hour every day, EVERY DAY, IF I’m out driving around and want a drink during Sonic’s happy hour, I’ll stop there. I say raise prices and offer a “sale” from 2-5 or whatever. Basic psychology, thinking you’re getting a bargain.
As I said on another thread, when I think of surge pricing, I think of a base price and sometimes it goes lower and sometimes higher, depending on demand. Something tells me that Wendy’s prices are never going to dip.
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Around here In N Out is king for burgers. D21 loves them. There are huge car lines literally all day and night.
Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonalds, etc. may be just a pimple on the elephant’s derrière, in terms of burgers in the SF Bay Area at least.
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You know now that I realize that Wendy’s isn’t planning on launching this dynamic pricing until 2025 the more I think this is just a marketing ploy for 2024! I don’t know about elsewhere but Wendy’s is NOT a first choice of plenty of people around here. I think they are looking for some attention - even not good attention can be attention to your product!
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Wendy’s profits have grown steadily since 2019. In fact their profit margins were up in 2023 vs 2022. Wendy’s gross profit in 2019 pre-pandemic was 1.068B, in 2022 post-pandemic it was 1.276B.
2023 profit margin was 9.4%, up from 8.5% in 2022.
I don’t see any effect of high labor costs dragging down their profits. I’ve heard many companies increased prices higher than necessary to compensate for inflation while using inflation as a convenient excuse.
This certainly seems to be the case with Wendy’s at a casual glance, although I suppose a deep dive into their price increases and margins over a longer period of time might prove me wrong. Either way they’re definitely not struggling to survive since they’ve made over 1B in profit and growing every year since 2019.
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Article from Ad Age about backlash to ‘surge pricing’ idea at Wendy’s
One interesting quote:
Wendy’s isn’t the first brand to try dynamic pricing. AMC Theaters tested out the tactic for prime seating in movie theaters in three states, and stopped after negative reviews.
Not meaning to derail the thread, but mainly just for comparison’s sake …
I wonder if more companies, not just streaming services, are learning from Netflix. There was a great outcry about raising prices and eliminating password sharing. Well, they did it and the last thing I read was it has not substantially affected their bottom line and maybe even improved it because they gained more customers than they lost. Now Disney, Hulu and others are doing the same.
It won’t be long before other sectors put out feelers along the same lines. They can always backtrack and not do it, but in the meantime they will get valuable customer data about who has the stomach (haha) for surge pricing.
We have to drive our daughter down to Texas (from Ohio) for a summer internship and we are already plotting out how to do meals that won’t involve a lot of fast food (sandwiches in the car, pizza takeout and microwave meals at the hotel, etc). It’s not even for the health of it, though that can be substantial. To some degree it is the time spent in line. But most of it is cost, and cost alone.
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I am glad to see post-covid that hotels are doing their regular free hot buffet breakfasts. On road trips we eat a large first meal. Then drive about 3 hours,pick up coffee (and maybe a snack). Then drive another 3ish hours, stop for gas and very late lunch…. we’d be able to be in the non-surge timeframe for sure since the places are usually empty after 2pm. (Sidebar: I adore the iExit app - it lets you plan stops way ahead, picking desired food/gas options close to exit in “the same direction”). For cost and nutrition reasons, my lunch is sometimes a banana from the hotel breakfast. Ha, and some of hubby’s fries.
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Restaurants have done this indirectly with such things as senior discounts, since senior citizens are more likely to be retired and able to (and often prefer to) come during less busy times.
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Well in the movies, rich people tip the matrai d’ to get tables at crowded, trendy restaurants. I assume it happens in real life. A bit like an informal “surge fee”
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You’re absolutely right. But psychologically for many, a discount from a high price at an off time is more attractive than a surcharge to a low price at a peak time. One feels like a deal while the other is almost punitive!
It’d be like all the schools that offer merit for strong students deciding to instead publish that as the tuition price and imposing a surcharge on weaker students.
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Some colleges do have surcharges for some majors or for junior/senior level students.
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Wendy’s is now saying this was their plan all along and it got misrepresented as “surge pricing”. From the short bit I read, it sounds like they plan to have “dynamic” menu boards which display coupons or discounts during slow times.
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So kindof like the idea where Arby’s has deals 2 to 5pm, but more dynamic
They know that you’ll be really upset and then all of the fast places will follow and then you’ll get used to it. Remember when the first checked bag was free? They just need to wait you out and then they will make more money when this all becomes normal in our minds.
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When I am going out, I’ll check Uber and Lyft to check out the cost. If it’s too much due to “surge pricing” then I always have the option of taxi, subway or bus.
Wendy better figure out how much of their hamburger is in demand.
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Around here (Quad Cities), there is no In N Out. Our fancy burger chain is Five Guys.
Everyone in town, probably, tried Five Guys during the first few months they were open. I haven’t been back, because – while I enjoyed the food – for less than the $18ish they charge, I can get a better burger, fries, and soda at a local business. Five Guys’ prices have kept them from becoming incredibly popular here.
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How bout Five Guys.I was running errands and got a KID size cheeseburger. It was $9.50. I won’t be going back there…ever.
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I like Five Guys. They always have a line here because every other place is as expensive, if not more. A local bar/restaurant just opened and their burgers start at $20.
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For the most part, I think that a lot of fast food is over priced or over priced for ME because I don’t want to spend in a drive through what I could spend in a local fast casual or diner for better food and an experience.
That said, don’t know the last time I had Wendy’s food. There is no item that I can say that would be my “go to” there.
I do like Five Guys burgers because I love all the add-ons you can do at no extra charge. I’m a toppings person! We get FG maybe 2-3 times a year - I will get a junior cheeseburger with said add-ons. H and I will split fries if we get them…their serving is very generous. But honestly if I’m getting take out to go home and eat I’ll get the junior cheeseburger and supplement the meal with stuff at home - like chips or an easy salad.
For the most part fast food has become unappealing to me both price and taste wise. An exception might be Taco Bell where I can still get a couple things for a couple bucks each and feel like I’m having the fast food experince I want. 
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