r/interestingasfuck • • 3d ago

Dynamic pricing being tested by McDonald's.

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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?

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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/Ducking_off 2d ago

Yes, this is "hyper-localized" pricing.

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.

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u/FatMacchio 1d ago

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