Wendy’s to introduce surge-style pricing

How much you pay for a Wendy’s meal could depend on when you’re hungry.

The Ohio-based fast-food chain is planning to introduce dynamic — or surge — pricing in 2025, according to Fox Business.

That means the price of burgers, fries, chicken nuggets and Wendy’s signature Frosty milkshakes could fluctuate depending on what time of day they are ordered.

A Wendy’s spokesperson told Fox the chain will begin testing digital menu boards in 2025 that will utilize dynamic pricing and artificial intelligence-enabled menu changes and “suggestive selling based on factors such as weather.”

Surge pricing has been used by many companies, most notably ride-hailing giant Uber, which fluctuates the cost of a ride based on demand changes that occur during rush hour or bad weather.

The Wendy’s spokesperson said 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,” according to Fox Business.

The fast-food restaurant’s new digital boards are meant to boost sales by upselling some menu items and to improve the order accuracy.

Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said during a meeting with business analysts earlier in February that the chain has already tested Wendy’s Fresh AI in several restaurants. He added the new initiative has led to ongoing improvement in speed and accuracy.

The Pittsburgh area is home to about 60 Wendy’s locations, according to the company’s website. There are 259 Wendy’s restaurants in Pennsylvania, making it one of the more popular fast-food chains in the state.

A Dave’s Single cheeseburger currently costs $5.79 from a Wendy’s in Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania is home to the seventh most Wendy’s location of any state. Florida, Texas, and Ohio all have over 400 locations each. There are more than 6,000 restaurants located across the U.S.

The fast-food giant’s surge pricing experiment could be met with resistance from customers, according to George Washington University professor Steven Suranovic.

Suranovic told The Daily Mail that surge price could impact lunchtime customers the most, who could lose out surplus gains given out during that time period.

According to a 2023 survey from software company Capterra, 52% of customers consider dynamic pricing to be price gouging and 42% of customers said they would order less or not at all if surge pricing were implemented.

“They could shoot themselves in the foot by introducing something customers aren’t ready for,” Suranovic said. “If people feel like they’re getting gouged, they’re not going to take kindly to this dynamic pricing strategy.”