Kirk Tanner, the new CEO and president of Wendy’s, shared with analysts his various plans to increase company profits, including investing in digital menu boards that will have the capacity to display dynamic pricing that fluctuates throughout the day by 2025. Here's what customers need to know.
… planning to invest approximately $20 million to roll out digital menu boards…
Wendy’s will also invest an additional $10 million over two years…
Have you tried not spending $30 million dollars to sell hamburgers?
I mean, holy shit. You sell burgers and fries. Does everything need to be digitally and AI enhanced?
A spokesperson for Wendy’s confirmed the news with Food & Wine, stating the company is focused on providing “great-tasting” food and is “making a significant investment” to grow its digital business, including rolling out digital menu boards in some U.S. restaurants. “Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing a variety of enhanced features on these digital menuboards like dynamic pricing, different offerings in certain parts of the day, AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling based on factors such as weather. 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.”
Have you tried not spending $30 million dollars to sell hamburgers?
I mean, holy shit. You sell burgers and fries. Does everything need to be digitally and AI enhanced?
Imagine if they spent that money making their food better.
It would take more than $30m to pull off that incredible feat.
The digital menu boards are there so they don’t have to hire as many cashiers.
It’s why Five Guys and In-n-Out have been gaining market share the last 10 years. Give me a good burger, good fries… that’s all I want.
Five Guys is more expensive than the vastly superior local burger joints now. Not a great comparison.
In-N-Out is an unbeatable value, but is only franchised in very limited areas in order to control quality.
Yeah Five Guys is priced higher than almost anywhere else in my area and has been meh when I’ve gone. In n out doesn’t exist here.
It is expensive, but when faced with the choice of a $15 meal from Wendy’s or a $15 meal from Five Guys, I’m always choosing Five Guys.
Also, my local Five Guys is amazing. I haven’t had any issues with quality that others seem to regularly have.
And why are you not supporting your local hamburger restaurants?
Edit: downvotes from Ronald McDonald’s alts
Because there literally aren’t any fast food local hamburger joints in my town.
Well there’s your problem
Isn’t that the whole context of the thread?
If we were talking about a sit down restaurant and $20-30 a plate, it’d be a whole other discussion.
I find it hard to believe that you can’t get takeout cheaper than that.
Why would I, as a customer, be ‘motivated to visit’ to see your magic price changing menu? I’m going to a restaurant that can’t fucking do that.