www.today.com Open in urlscan Pro
23.217.45.116  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another
browser.

TODAY-exclusive deals and coupons: How to save while you shop

SKIP TO CONTENT
Today Logo
Sponsored By

 * On The Show
   3rd Hour of TODAY Hoda & JennaSunday TODAYShop the Show
 * Shop
   Shop the ShowCouponsSteals & DealsSalesGift GuidesNewsletter
 * Wellness
   Start TODAYMental HealthWomen's HealthFitnessSleepDiet & Nutrition
 * Parents
   Parenting TipsKids HealthBabiesFamilyLOL
 * Food
   RecipesHoliday RecipesCeleb ChefsFood TipsWhat to Cook This Week
 * Life
   HolidaysAstrologyInspirationEssays
 * TODAY Plaza



Search


Wendy’s new ‘dynamic pricing’ system won't raise prices at peak times,
spokesperson says

 * Share this —
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 


Search TodaySearch

Sections

 * Health & Wellness
 * Parenting
 * Food
 * Shop
 * Pop Culture
 * News
 * Life
 * Style

Shows

 * TODAY
 * 3rd Hour of TODAY
 * TODAY with Hoda & Jenna
 * Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist
 * Watch Full Episodes

More

 * News
 * Life
 * Books
 * Trending
 * Recipes
 * Read With Jenna
 * Astrology
 * Inspirational
 * Holidays
 * Relationships
 * TODAY Table
 * Help
 * Newsletters
 * Start TODAY
 * Halloween
 * Shop TODAY Awards
 * Citi Music Series
 * Listen All Day

Follow today

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

More Brands

NBC News LogoMSNBC Logo
 * Facebook
 * Pinterest
 * Email
 * SMS
 * Print
 * Whatsapp
 * Reddit
 * Pocket
 * Flipboard
 * Twitter
 * Linkedin


 * On The Show
 * Shop
 * Wellness
 * Parents
 * Food
 * Life
 * TODAY Plaza




Restaurants


WENDY’S NEW ‘DYNAMIC PRICING’ SYSTEM WON'T RAISE PRICES AT PEAK TIMES,
SPOKESPERSON SAYS

The company is clarifying that there are “no plans” to raise prices at
high-demand times.
0 seconds of 30 secondsVolume 0%

Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled
Play/PauseSPACE
Increase Volume↑
Decrease Volume↓
Seek Forward→
Seek Backward←
Captions On/Offc
Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf
Mute/Unmutem
Decrease Caption Size-
Increase Caption Size+ or =
Seek %0-9


Settings
OffEnglish
Font Color
White

Font Opacity
100%

Font Size
100%

Font Family
Arial

Character Edge
None

Background Color
Black

Background Opacity
50%

Window Color
Black

Window Opacity
0%

Reset
WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan
100%75%50%25%
200%175%150%125%100%75%50%
ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana
NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow
WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan
100%75%50%25%0%
WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan
100%75%50%25%0%
Auto270p (288 kbps)1080p (5017 kbps)720p (3588 kbps)540p (1828 kbps)360p (948
kbps)270p (508 kbps)270p (288 kbps)

This ad will end in 22
Live
00:08
00:21
00:30






 
Tap to Unmute
Wendy's considers surge pricing: Will other fast food chains follow?
03:31
Create your free profile or log in to save this article
Feb. 26, 2024, 5:45 PM HST / Updated Feb. 29, 2024, 9:00 AM HST / Source: TODAY
By Liz Calvario

Wendy’s is clarifying what the company’s CEO meant in a recent call with
analysts when he said the fast-food chain plans to roll out “dynamic pricing.”

In mid-February, Kirk Tanner, the new CEO and president of Wendy’s, shared with
analysts that they would be rolling out new plans to improve company profits,
including digital menu boards that will be more easily able to change the prices
of items, as well as testing dynamic pricing and daypart offers, according
to Nation’s Restaurant News.




Tanner explained that they plan to invest about $20 million to “roll out digital
menu boards to all U.S. company-operated restaurants by the end of 2025 and
approximately $10 million over the next two years to support digital menu board
enhancements for the global system.”

The digital boards are meant to improve order accuracy and increase sales by
upselling certain menu items.

A general view from a Wendy’s store on Aug. 9, 2023, in Nanuet, New York. Kena
Betancur / VIEWpress via Getty Images

By 2025, the fast food restaurant chain will begin testing dynamic pricing,
which is a time-based pricing strategy that companies use to increase or
decrease prices for their services or items depending on the time and demand.

While initially compared in the media (including on TODAY.com) to the concept of
“surge pricing” on the Uber app when prices rise as drivers are scarce, Wendy’s
clarified how the company plans to use “dynamic pricing” in a statement on Feb.
27.



“To clarify, 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,” a spokesperson said in an email to NBC News. They
added there are “no plans” to raise prices at high-demand times.

“We said these (digital) menu boards would give us more flexibility to change
the display of featured items. This was misconstrued in some media reports as an
intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants. We have no
plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us
most,” the Feb. 27 statement reads. “Any features we may test in the future
would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members. Digital
menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of
day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily,
particularly in the slower times of day.”

But before this clarification came, there was widespread backlash to the
announcement on social media, and Burger King, one of Wendy’s biggest
competitors, decided to take advantage of the moment and offer customers free
Whoppers through Friday, March 1.

“the only thing surging at BK is the 🔥,” Burger King posted on X. “We don’t
believe in charging people more when they’re hungry.”



A Wendy’s spokesperson had initially confirmed the digital menus, as well as
dynamic pricing, in a Feb. 26 statement to TODAY.com, noting the company’s
future ability to change prices at different times of day. The initial statement
did not say the fast-food chain would only lower prices with the new dynamic
pricing model.

“As we’ve previously shared, we are making a significant investment to
accelerate our digital business. In addition to evolving our loyalty program, we
are leveraging technology even more with the rollout of digital menu boards in
some U.S. restaurants,” the statement read. “Beginning as early as 2025, we will
begin testing a variety of enhanced features on these digital menu boards like
dynamic pricing, different offerings in certain parts of the day, AI-enabled
menu changes and suggestive selling based on factors such as weather.”



The statement adds that “dynamic pricing can allow Wendy’s to be competitive and
flexible with pricing, motivate customers to visit and provide them with the
food they love at a great value. We will test a number of features that we think
will provide an enhanced customer and crew experience.”

In the meeting with analysts, Tanner noted that the company has already rolled
out its “Wendy’s Fresh AI” in many restaurants, “where we see ongoing
improvement in speed and accuracy.”

The digital menus will help reflect the fluctuating prices throughout the day.
Tanner said the new rollouts will “play a key role on our restaurant team,
enabling the crew to focus on what matters: preparing fresh high-quality Wendy’s
favorites and building customer relationships to bring them back time and
again.”

Back in 2023, NBC’s Sam Brock told TODAY that dynamic pricing was creeping into
restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys and more.

“Experts say more businesses are tracking consumer spending habits to determine
when and even what to charge more for,” Brock said, adding that to avoid dynamic
pricing check online for promo codes, discounts, loyalty programs and more.

Additionally, the CEO said to analysts that the company will also be investing
more money to advertise its new breakfast menu offerings. It recently teamed up
with Cinnabon for a new breakfast item and added two additional breakfast
offerings: English muffin sandwiches and a breakfast burrito.



According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the company is also testing “saucy
nuggets” with flavors like honey-barbecue, Buffalo, garlic-Parmesan and ghost
pepper in a small number of restaurants in Ohio.

EDITOR’S NOTE (Feb. 27, 2024, at 8:30 p.m. PT): This story has been updated with
a clarification from Wendy’s that “dynamic pricing” will not include price
increases at high-traffic times.

Liz Calvario

Liz Calvario is a Los Angeles-based reporter and editor for TODAY.com who covers
entertainment, pop culture and trending news.

Samantha Kubota contributed.
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * Print
 * Create your free profile or log in to save this article



 * About
 * Contact
 * Help
 * Visit
 * TODAY Apps
 * AD Choices
 * Privacy Policy
 * Your Privacy Choices
 * CA Notice
 * NEW TERMS OF SERVICE (UPDATED JULY 7, 2023)
 * Careers
 * Closed Captioning
 * TODAY Sitemap
 * Advertise
 * TODAY Store
 * Shop TODAY
 * Select Shopping
 * Select Personal Finance

© 2024 NBC UNIVERSAL

NBC News LogoMSNBC LogoToday Logo



search by queryly Advanced Search



YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES: OPT-OUT OF SALE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION AND OPT-OUT OF
SHARING OR PROCESSING PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR TARGETED ADS

To provide you with a more relevant online experience, certain online ad
partners may combine personal information that we make available with data
across different businesses and otherwise assist us with related advertising
activities, as described in our Privacy Policy. This may be considered "selling"
or "sharing/processing” for targeted online advertising under applicable law.

If you are a resident of California, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah or Virginia, to
opt out of us selling or sharing/processing your personal information:

 * Such as cookies and devices identifiers for the targeted ads and related
   purposes for this site/app on this browser/device: switch the “Allow Sale of
   My Personal Info or Sharing/Processing for Targeted Ads” toggle under Manage
   Preferences to OFF (grey color) by moving it LEFT and clicking “Confirm My
   Choice”.
 * Such as your name, email address and other associated personal information
   for targeted advertising activities as described above, please submit the
   form below.



Please note that choices related to cookies and device identifiers are specific
to the brand’s website or app on the browser or device where you are making the
election.


MANAGE PREFERENCES

ALLOW SALE OF MY PERSONAL INFO AND SHARING/PROCESSING FOR TARGETED ADS

Allow Sale of My Personal Info and Sharing/Processing for Targeted Ads

California, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah & Virginia Residents Only: To opt out of
selling or sharing/processing for targeted advertising of information such as
cookies and device identifiers processed for targeted ads (as defined by law)
and related purposes for this site/app on this browser/device, switch this
toggle to off (grey color) by moving it left and clicking “Confirm My Choice”
below. (This will close this dialogue box, so please open the email Opt-Out Form
1st).

ALL OTHER LOCATIONS: If we do not detect that you are in California,
Connecticut, Colorado, Utah or Virginia, this choice will not apply even if you
toggle this button off.

If you turn this off, you will still see ads, but they may be less relevant or
based only on our first-party information about you.

Please note, you must make the Manage Preference choices on each site/app on
each browser/device you use to access the services. You must also renew this
choice if you clear your cookies. You can change your precise geolocation
permissions for our mobile apps in your mobile device settings.

OPT-OUT FORM

Always Active

To opt out of the use of your email and other personal information related to
that email such as your name for targeted advertising activities please complete
this Opt-Out Form

OTHER CATEGORIES OF DATA COLLECTION

Always Active

Please see our Cookie Notice for more details which can be found by navigating
to the Privacy Policy in the menu settings page.

Back Button


PERFORMANCE COOKIES



Search Icon
Filter Icon

Clear
checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
Switch Label label
Switch Label label
Switch Label label

Confirm My Choice