The fast-food chain Wendy's has clarified its idea to implement “dynamic pricing.” Think Uber ride share-style or airline ticket-style pricing where menu prices could vary depending on demand or the time of day.
Wendy's said it would not charge more during the busiest hours. Instead, it could offer discounts and products throughout the day, perhaps during slower hours. Wendy's said it wouldn't begin to introduce dynamic pricing until 2025 at the earliest, NPR reports.
So could that concept take hold in Hawaiʻi? Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association Executive Director Sheryl Matsuoka said dynamic pricing probably won't be implemented at local restaurants.
"Most restaurants, I don't see them doing that because, you know, they're just trying to stay open and run a restaurant, let alone go in and change the back software," she said. "If you have to go in and you have to manually or even computer program it to flip on on a Friday at 6 p.m. and then Saturday night, that's just, it isn't worth it."
Restaurants already employ deals like happy hour to bring in customers during slower times of the day.
This story aired on The Conversation on March 5, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
