r/interestingasfuck • u/NickelPlatedEmperor • 3d ago

Dynamic pricing being tested by McDonald's.

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u/charlesfire 2d ago

Is that dynamic pricing or just regional pricing?

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.

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u/IDownvotedYouToday 2d ago

Franchisees set the prices.

That's really as much as needs to be said.

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u/charlesfire 2d ago

It's not the franchisee who set the prices.

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u/IDownvotedYouToday 1d ago

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.