Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the it will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year.
  • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
    62·
    9 months ago

    The economy doesn’t care what people aka consumers want anymore. At shareholder insistence, they sabotage the future for a short term stock boost, knowing infinite growth on a finite world is over. This is terminal stage capitalism, and it’s not just gonna be Wendy’s, or in the food sector. The snake is eating its own tail as the scam runs out of room.

    Capital markets were sold as seed funding to grow businesses, now they dismantle business ability to provide the product/service they existed for in the first place at any remotely decent quality. Economies are supposed to be lowly tools, existing solely to benefit and serve society, a method to more efficiently distribute goods/services within said society. The tail is wagging the dog.

    • doc@kbin.social
      6·
      9 months ago

      The customer is the shareholder. The consumer is a means to an end. Same as it ever was.

      • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
        9·
        9 months ago

        The consumer/employee is livestock to the owner class, to be exploited at both ends, and discarded when it is exploited to the point it can no longer produce.

  • Ozzy@nexxis.social
    43·
    9 months ago

    capitalism is nearing perfection their workers must be excited about all that surge pay

  • Pistcow@lemm.ee
    37·
    9 months ago

    I mean, if they want to but I’m getting fast food less and less. My wife and I got two numbered breakfast meals from McDonalds and it ended up being $27~. Yeaah I’ll just make breakfast at home.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
    19·
    9 months ago

    Jokes on them, every single fast food place near me has already priced themselves out of contention as far as I am concerned.

    You’re a fucking convenience freckle-bitch, not an $11 burger.

  • Dagamant@lemmy.world
    13·
    9 months ago

    the good Mexican place in town feeds us better food for less than we would pay at 2/3rds of the fast food places in town. The exceptions being Cookout and Taco Bell. Either way, my family has been moving further and further from fast food going from once a week to maybe once a month if we are driving somewhere and don’t have time for something else.

    • podperson@lemm.ee
      3·
      9 months ago

      Have read Snow Crash more than once, but hadn’t heard of that New Yorker article. A+++. Loved that he had to put a quarter in everything.

    • glimse@lemmy.world
      2·
      9 months ago

      $5 for a biggie bag.

      4 for $4 (RIP) was my go-to when I was poor. It’s not great or healthy but it was by far the cheapest option at a job where bringing my own lunch every day wasn’t feasible

  • merc@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    9 months ago

    Unpopular opinion, but I like it.

    I don’t eat Wendy’s stuff often, but when I do it’s late at night, or other unpopular times. So, it would be cheaper for me. At popular times the higher prices will discourage people from going, so whoever does go will have a shorter line.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        9 months ago

        That’s how surge pricing works.

        Right now they have to set a price that’s reasonable both when the place is empty, and when it is jam packed. The price they’re using is going to be right in the middle.

        If they can change prices dynamically, they’ll want to slightly reduce the crowd when things are busiest, and earn more per customer, and they’ll want to draw people in when it’s empty. When it’s empty they have to pay for workers to sit around doing nothing. They make more money (or lose less money) if those workers are kept busy. To do that, they’ll want to increase traffic by lowering prices.

    • osmn@lemmy.ml
      15·
      9 months ago

      Yeah, no. The base price will be whatever price it is now (probably higher), then price will increase during busy times. They have zero incentive to make it cheaper, ever.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        9 months ago

        They have zero incentive to make it cheaper, ever.

        Sure they do, competing against other burger joints. There’s a reason the prices are set where they are now: they’re high enough to generate a profit, but low enough to entice people to come there instead of other burger joints. But, right now those prices are static, not dynamic.

        A burger joint that’s open late has to pay for staff. If they’re just sitting around without any customers they’re losing money. If they can lower prices to get people to come to them instead of Mc Donalds or Burger King at night, then they can presumably make more money.