Wendy’s won’t be boosting its prices at premium times after all.
The hamburger chain backed off on the idea, floated in comments by the chain’s CEO, Kirk Tanner, that it might test features such as dynamic pricing at its restaurants.
Other companies – Uber, for one – have used dynamic pricing, or surge pricing, to moderate use by customers during the busiest days of the year, or when drivers or cars are in short supply during the day. Prices rise and fall with demand using that business model, according to a report from The Associated Press.
This month during a conference call with investors and industry analysts, Tanner said, “Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings, along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling,” according to the AP report.
The company said Wednesday, after the story began to circulate this week, that any features it decides to test in the future “would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members.”
“Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. We didn’t use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice,” the company said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
