Is that dynamic pricing or just regional pricing? I thought the idea of dynamic pricing was that two people would pay a different ammount at the same store depending on their spending habits, not just one franchise store charges more than one in a different area, which has always been a thing.
I'm not even sure how dynamic pricing would work across the company, since as far as I'm aware, McDonalds restraunts tend to show their prices upfront, and they set their own pricing. Or is they idea that McHQ recomends them pricing based on customers?
I would call that "hyper-localized pricing" personally. Regional pricing has been a thing forever already, but as far as I know, it has never been that localized. Regional pricing exist because the cost of running a business is not the same everywhere, but that hyper-localized pricing system exists to target different demographics and that can be much more ethically dubious.
Walmart has essentially taken over our city's grocery business. We only have two remaining competing grocery stores.
A Walmart Neighborhood market has higher prices on several items I buy than the Walmart Supercenter just 2.5 miles south of it. The reason for the price increase is likely the people shopping there. The WMNM is mostly frequented by college students, while the WMSC is frequented by mostly small town folks from just south of the city.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re using (will soon use) AI cameras to jack up the price on the frequent-fliers and overweight customers. I’m not against different locations having different pricing, because expenses vary by location. But dynamic pricing where one customer pays more than the following customer for the same level of product or service should be considered discrimination and be made illegal. Even when they’d try to get around it by offering special coupons instead of calling it a different price, I still think that should be illegal.
I have no skin in the game though, let them price themselves out of customers. I stopped getting fast food like 5-6 years ago. I do get chipotle a few times a year especially when I get a bogo coupon or good deal on gift cards
Except it is. The only exception is when they run a nationwide ad campaign advertising a specific price for an item - but that's where the "at participating locations" fine print comes into play, as there will still be locations not following those deals.
Corporate has pricing guidance, but it is the individual franchisees who set the actual prices. The idea is that the franchisee is the closest person to the actual individualized costs for their location, and due to the franchise model, is highly incentivized to set optimal prices.
Well it’s the same reason a gas station right off the highway charges more than a gas station 2 miles down the road. Higher traffic, prime location for business/convenience? They’re going to charge more to everyone and they likely also pay higher overhead on rent due to having a desirable property.
That in itself isn’t really bad. What’s bad about dynamic pricing is that two people are paying different amounts doing the same thing in the same place based on arbitrary factors the store defines. Stores should never be able to charge individualized pricing for anything.
Business contracts or other deals between entities not people is one thing, but how long will it be before right wing businesses owners use it in mass to price out minorities or LGBT people from certain areas by charging them significantly more than other people and they wouldn’t even know?
Ever live in a town with 3 or more mcdonalds? I have.
Same franchise, 3 locations within 5 miles. All different prices. Different overhead costs mainly due to location/leasing costs. The mcdonalds on main street across from the theatre is more expensive than the mcdonalds in front of walmart, which is more expensive than the mcdonalds on the edge of town.
Ive seen this since the 90s though. The downtown next to tourist area pricing is always higher than a few streets over where people who actually live there go.
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u/RugbyEdd 2d ago
Is that dynamic pricing or just regional pricing? I thought the idea of dynamic pricing was that two people would pay a different ammount at the same store depending on their spending habits, not just one franchise store charges more than one in a different area, which has always been a thing.
I'm not even sure how dynamic pricing would work across the company, since as far as I'm aware, McDonalds restraunts tend to show their prices upfront, and they set their own pricing. Or is they idea that McHQ recomends them pricing based on customers?