UberStyle

In the future, the ideal time to eat a burger won’t be when you’re hungry and really hankering for one. It’ll be the oddest, most awkward hours — late mornings or afternoons, the middle of the night on a Tuesday — the slices of time when prices will be lowest. Not unlike your Uber ride, fast food prices will go up or down depending on demand. At least, this is the world people imagined when fast food chain Wendy’s revealed it would be tinkering with “dynamic pricing,” a broad term that describes any strategy where…

A popular international fast-food chain is planning to experiment with a new pricing model where the cost of menu items will vary depending on the level of demand, similar to the one used by the ride-hailing service Uber. The anticipated test is now causing concern over fluctuating fares amongst consumers and industry experts alike.Wendy’s “Uber-style” surge-pricing model, where the cost of menu items will fluctuate throughout the day based on requests, suggests that, for instance, a Dave’s burger, the eatery’s…