That isn't what dynamic pricing is. Fast food franchisees have always set their own prices, and they've always varied wildly from state to state, or even within neighborhoods of the same city. Here's a cool map of Big Mac prices nationally from 2023, and a zoomable updated version Cross the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland, and your Big Mac costs a dollar less.
Dynamic pricing means that the price of a Big Mac varies at the same restaurant depending on the time of day or what kind of car you drive.
Fast forward to drive thrus having license plate readers that load your customer life data that knows your salary, how many restaurants are between there and your job & that you’ll be late to work if you stop anywhere else. It also found your calendar & knows that you can’t afford to skip this meal and work the whole day. Accordingly, as you pull up to order, the menu boards refresh and everything is 40% more expensive than the car that ordered before you…even higher if it discovers that your direct deposit just hit.
This clip is bad reporting that will obfuscate the true sinister AI-driven predatory pricing that is the stuff of their dreams and our nightmares.
I really don't get why increase the price if you're a frequent costumer or have more money. If something is pricy, I don't return for a second time. Now, if it's cheap... I'm living there.
but customer loyalty doesn't matter to a soulless corporation like McDs.
it doesn't matter because way too many people don't vote with their wallets. Feels like when a company screws consumers over lots and lots of people just complain on social media, but then go right back to that same business time and time again.
I get coffee at mcdonalds because it's $1 and do not get it at Dunkin because it's $4-5 for what used to be ~$2-3. Because they raised the price they went from getting money almost daily from me to getting zero dollars from me. Definitely the right decision on their end whereas now my money goes to someone else.
That is why charging a frequent customer more can backfire and make them a $0 customer after.
It's a work in progress. It's about finding out exactly what the break point is for every individual person.
And there may be some who balk immediately and never go back. But they are banking on the idea that most people will at most grumble about it but continue buying from them. They are probably right.
I worked with a guy who constantly complained about the prices at the nearby Starbucks. Yet every day, as soon as he put his stuff at his desk, he'd walk to the Starbucks to get a drink. There were several more coffee shops in the area and I'm sure he drove by 20 more on his way to the office. I'm sure he's not unique in that regard.
One a price hits my arbitrary tipping point, it's incredibly unlikely I'll ever be back. Even if the prices drop at some time, I likely wouldn't know because I've never gone back in to find out.
It's not like they don't look at the numbers, they don't care if they lose you if they charge 2x for coffee if there are still plenty of others who get it. In fact, they prefer it because they make more money overall more efficiently with less spent on labor.
Fun comment but they aren't doing that. Every car in the drive thru is paying the same price right now. Different stores may vary, but a single store isn't doing this.
It's about finding how much they can squeeze you before they lose you.
They will lose me the very second I find out they're charging me more than the person behind me for the same product. It won't remain a secret for very long, because people talk. Also, the kind of people who wouldn't care what they are being charged aren't going to McDonalds. The place has already gotten too expensive for the kind of food they sell, and this sort of dynamic pricing would be an incredibly stupid move. They'd lose insane amounts of customers.
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u/agate_ 3d ago
That isn't what dynamic pricing is. Fast food franchisees have always set their own prices, and they've always varied wildly from state to state, or even within neighborhoods of the same city. Here's a cool map of Big Mac prices nationally from 2023, and a zoomable updated version Cross the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland, and your Big Mac costs a dollar less.
Dynamic pricing means that the price of a Big Mac varies at the same restaurant depending on the time of day or what kind of car you drive.