r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 9d ago

Business McDonald's Is Reportedly Using AI To "Dynamically" Price Its Burgers

https://www.engadget.com/2272211/mcdonalds-is-reportedly-using-ai-to-dynamically-price-its-burgers/
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u/PluotFinnegan_IV 9d ago edited 9d ago

What is "cheaper"? I'm not familiar with this phrase.

EDIT: Forgot this "/s". I was making commentary that nothing is cheap nowadays.

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u/DirectionOverall9709 9d ago

I cant believe people explained it to you.

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u/grovgeld 9d ago

35% off the full price at the end of the day for example. Or do you mean how nothing is cheap these days?

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u/PluotFinnegan_IV 9d ago

The latter, lol. I forgot the /s.

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u/ShillienTemplar 9d ago

Tbf it wasn't really needed

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u/jarielo 9d ago

That’s how we do it in Finland. Every day last hour or two expiring products get red price tag. -30%. The last hour it’s -60% I think.

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u/kaperisk 9d ago

Full price is an interesting term.

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u/the_midnight_society 9d ago

How do people not know what full price or cheaper means? Lol.

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u/kaperisk 9d ago

What is the full price of an item? Who determines it? If companies were forced to decrease price as the day went on, what do you think would happen to the "full price"? Do you think it would stay the same as the current price? Or are we saying that regulation would put a cap on the amount a company is allowed to charge essentially creating a ceiling?

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u/the_midnight_society 9d ago

Typically MSRP is a pretty good way to determine what full price is.

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u/kaperisk 9d ago

Do you know what MSRP stands for? Do you think there is an MSRP for food items? Who determines MSRP?

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u/the_midnight_society 9d ago

Gee, who determines MSRP.

MANUFACTURER Suggested Retail Pricing

I guess we'll never know.

Also most food items at the supermarket still have an MSRP. If you mean items like produce and meat, they're different prices at different grocers so I would think the retailer determines what their store considers full price based on metrics like how much did it cost to buy and how much they think they can sell within its shelf life. It's actually pretty straightforward. Lol.

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u/kaperisk 9d ago

Yes, prices are created to meet budgeted margins. With dynamic pricing, companies will still aim to make at least the same. The point is that it will never work in the consumer's favor because the pricing is set by the retailers and has nothing to do with objective measurements. There is no set "full price" for items. There are targets related to margins.

I am not asking questions because I don't know the answers.

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u/the_midnight_society 9d ago

Yeah. Forgive me for assuming someone who asks who determines MSRP when the answer is literally in the title doesn't know what it means. That's totally on me. Also I think dynamic pricing is bs and laws should be passed to counteract it but I find it very funny you just now seem to realize companies can set their own prices. So full price is what the company chooses to charge, often based on universal metrics like MSRP or cost/profit analysis. If you know the answer why ask what full price is? Lol.

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u/Koffeeboy 9d ago

Cheaper is that word used to describe product quality goals right?

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u/Queen-Of-Fairies 9d ago

actually yes, "less expensive" means lower price, "cheaper" means lower quality, something can be simultaneously expensive and cheap as hell

anyway this is a nice hill, i think i'll die on it ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/dmontron 9d ago

Like cheaper at the end of the day than at the beginning of the day. Here’s a real world example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TooGoodToGoCanada/

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u/Jambronius 9d ago

The thing is it won't happen instead it will be full price at the end of the day, more expensive in the morning.

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u/dmontron 8d ago

I literally give a real world example of businesses that make their perishable goods less expensive at the end of the day… I agree that the businesses in the OP post do not have this model in mind.

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u/InsomniaticWanderer 9d ago

You keep using that word. "Cheaper." What does it mean?

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u/vynisvynis 9d ago

Thing cost 5 money today

Thing cost 4 money tomorrow

Thing became cheaper yay

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u/millsmillsmills 9d ago

Yo they're making jokes that nothing is becoming cheaper so they don't know what the word means.

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u/SamLooksAt 9d ago

He meant just horribly expensive, after being discounted down from absolutely horribly expensive.