Wendy’s Says Changes Are Coming
Wendy’s is making some changes to its menu, but the company says it’s not raising prices.
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Is Wendy’s raising its prices? Not exactly, but customers may soon see some changes on the fast-food chain’s menu.
In February, Wendy’s caused an uproar when it announced that it would be testing digital menus at its drive-throughs, as well as “dynamic pricing,” or “surge pricing.” Dynamic pricing is the practice of raising the price on goods and services during times when demand is highest. It’s already used at places like concert venues, bowling alleys, and movie theaters. Hotels, airlines, and ride-sharing apps like Uber use dynamic pricing as well. When Wendy’s used the term in its announcement, people took that to mean that hungry customers would soon see higher prices if they drove up to a Wendy’s at the wrong time.
But Wendy’s has since said that its announcement was misunderstood. The company says it has no plans to raise prices when demand is highest. Instead, it plans to lower prices when demand is low.
“We said these [digital] menu boards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told NBC News. “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.”
Wendy’s claims that the plan would benefit its customers. Robert Shumsky, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, told National Public Radio (NPR) that this might be true.
“[Wendy’s] talked about, for example, getting more breakfast customers in,” Shumsky said. “They might actually reduce breakfast prices at certain times in order to encourage people to come during what they currently have as relatively low-demand periods.”
If Wendy’s goes ahead with the plan, there wouldn’t be any changes until 2025 or later.