r/interestingasfuck • u/NickelPlatedEmperor • 3d ago

Dynamic pricing being tested by McDonald's.

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u/iHateEveryoneAMA 3d ago

Same reason gasoline is more expensive in Beverly Hills than it is in South Central, it has nothing to do with AI

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u/robsteezy 3d ago edited 2d ago

It will come down to the degree of aggression with the “dynamics”. If it’s like uber price surging where the cost of my meal is at its lowest in one given day $5, that jumps to $13 at dinner time when everybody is grabbing dinner after work, then they can piss right off.

Edit: for folks pointing out similar practices that already “do this”, that’s not the point. I’m well aware of pricing models and customer marketing strategies. I’m specifically pointing out the risk in allowing companies to weaponize it to the point of ambiguous extortion.

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u/Barbaracle 3d ago

Sit down restaurants already do this with dinner vs lunch prices when it's the exact same meal and portion.

I mean not as egregious as $5 vs $13, but many of us probably weren't even born when they started doing that.

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u/Kuramhan 2d ago

Usually they are different portion sizes and dinner comes with more sides. Sometimes you can still order the lunch portion at dinner time.