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McDonald's push to have AI price your Big Mac

61 points · 37 comments · Betelbuddy

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HarHarVeryFunny · 1790714025 · focus · HN ↗
Soon you'll need to bring your own agent to negotiate the price of your Big Mac.
Or you could just go somewhere with better food, better prices, and no AI.
ndiddy · 1790714251 · focus · HN ↗
If we're already seeing dynamic burger pricing based on market rates, does McDonald's also plan on offering a burger derivative market so customers can hedge their pricing risk in case unforeseen events cause the burger price to skyrocket?
1. delichon · 1790719683 · focus · HN ↗
  I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. -- J. Wellington Wimpy I'll gladly pay you today for a hamburger next Tuesday. -- ndiddy
2. m463 · 1790735990 · focus · HN ↗
  I see a burger arbitrage opportunity where you purchase a burger at in-n-out and deliver it to mcdonalds customers.
  1. rspeele · 1790739696 · focus · HN ↗
    Delightfully devilish, Seymour.
3. onemoreproof · 1790861347 · focus · HN ↗
  Working in financial markets, I always thought that the stocks of products in a supermarket should have a dynamic price, with traders buying and selling it until the customer actually buys it. This would solve the "maturity" problem of foods in supermarket. But I guess the marketing department would not be happy with fluctuating prices from the moment you pick up on the shelf and you buy it at the counter :-).
tecoholic · 1790715345 · focus · HN ↗
There was a Jon Stewart podcast on this a couple of weeks ago on Machine Learning and custom pricing. It was an illuminating one. It all looks like a lead up to big consumer action and lawsuit in the future. TBH, McDonald’s pricing might survive as it seems to charge the same for everyone at the same store.
SMAAART · 1790719362 · focus · HN ↗
> One pricing factor supercharged by AI: an estimate of how much each store’s patrons are willing to pay.
How is this any different from businesses who do not have transparent pricing? E.g.: Enterprise SaaS; consultancy; architectural materials.
1. Borborygymus · 1790720739 · focus · HN ↗
  A meal is a pretty simple fixed-cost item from a retail outlet, not a service with a complex set of dependencies and shifting requirements. The cost of the meal is predictable to the seller - dynamic pricing has only one purpose - gouging customers.
  If SaaS/consulting/architectural firms are engaging in price gouging of their customers, that is not an argument to bring the same to the fast food market.
  1. ghostbrainalpha · 1790723335 · focus · HN ↗
    Counterpoint: Restaurants have ALWAYS had dynamic pricing. It is called "Happy Hour". Dynamic pricing for an eatery serves an important purpose besides just gouging the customer. It moves customer traffic away from the intense surge at standard breakfast, lunch and dinner times which is a hard problem for businesses to work around.
    You DESERVE a discount for patronizing them during their slower periods.
    gdulli · 1790723617 · focus · HN ↗
    There have ALWAYS been projectiles but when guns came along we had to treat guns differently. Scale and magnitude and context matter.
    unrented7977 · 1790732129 · focus · HN ↗
    A discount is quite literally the opposite of what's happening here.
    therealpygon · 1790808235 · focus · HN ↗
    Guess that is a matter of perspective eh? If they say a Big Mac meal now costs $20 normal price but the price is being dynamically decreased based on order volume to attract customers at off-times for a lower price, does this Kohl’s “every weekend is a sale” model suddenly make everything feel better?
    euroderf · 1790733457 · focus · HN ↗
    A Happy Hour is publicly priced in advance. Not so "dynamic".
    schiffern · 1790742375 · focus · HN ↗
    Yep, the overarching term they might be looking for is price segmentation. Coupons, matinees, college/senior discounts, etc
    <a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-duckies/" rel="nofollow">https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-...
  2. skeledrew · 1790760071 · focus · HN ↗
    The "cost" of anything is determined by supply and demand. Nothing fixed about pricing; it was always an arbitrary affair of "buy low, sell high" at every level. It's the very essence of Capitalism.
    Government regulation of course exists, but is a separate thing.
2. triceratops · 1790735266 · focus · HN ↗
  > Enterprise SaaS; consultancy
  If McDonald's wants to buy me steak dinners and rounds of golf to sell me a burger, I'm down.
  Download an app with ad tracking just to get a price? Nah bruh
[deleted] · 1790720254 · focus · HN ↗
[deleted]
throwaway63467 · 1790720965 · focus · HN ↗
Why are people upset, it’s obviously “stupid” for customers but Amazon has been doing this for ages, prices change multiple times per day and the only reason is that they choose the optimal price point where you will just so buy at Amazon and not elsewhere, AI is surely involved in that process. People are fine with it apparently as Amazon grows like crazy, so why not pay dynamic rates for our burgers too, why not for everything?
1. add-sub-mul-div · 1790723526 · focus · HN ↗
  It's better for consumers to know what something costs in advance so they can have a mental model of the space and where to buy.
  The fact that people are NPCs who make the tech giants like Amazon successful out of ignorance and despite their hostility is not a good thing.
kardos · 1790724692 · focus · HN ↗
The only winning move is not to play
1. jasomill · 1790727951 · focus · HN ↗
  Or do what I do and buy nothing but the occasional deeply discounted item in the app (free 10 piece McNuggets with $2 purchase, $1 breakfast sandwich, free fries [no purchase necessary]).
  1. memcg · 1790776302 · focus · HN ↗
    I posted this a month ago: "At my location I can get an iced tea with free refills. Then I fill out the survey listed on the paper receipt and use that to get a buy one sandwich get one free deal."
    The BOGO requires a manager thumb print, so order at the counter. Always say nice things in survey. I'm told managers read them to the staff.
2. _Microft · 1790741452 · focus · HN ↗
  Especially for your blood vessels, liver, pancreas, …
AuthAuth · 1790725362 · focus · HN ↗
why does this never result in the food getting cheaper.
1. kotaKat · 1790756355 · focus · HN ↗
  they were TRYING to, but the franchises decided to use it as opportunities to raise prices:
  "At the company’s August earnings call, CEO Kempczinski called out store owners who didn’t comply with the chain’s under-$3 menu pricing guidance – about a third of total franchisees."
  When that new menu rehash happened and they got rid of the 2 for $5 and etc and started adding "value items under $3", what happened was a bunch of franchisees all just instead raised the price of items on that menu to still be "technically correct".
  My local market now has a $2.89 McDouble which qualifies for that "under $3" metric, but wasn't what the McCEO wanted to see happen.
grogers · 1790727724 · focus · HN ↗
Maybe instead of spending money on AI to squeeze as much profit as possible you could just fix your self ordering kiosks to not suck? They are painfully slow to the point where you have to click things multiple times because it doesn't register and then when it does wake up it registers the second click on some unrelated thing that you have to undo. Plus half the time the card reader doesn't work so you have to pay at the counter anyways, which they don't staff so it takes forever to flag someone down.
1. euroderf · 1790733346 · focus · HN ↗
  Probably every click has to round-trip to East Ratfrak.
2. joquarky · 1790813429 · focus · HN ↗
  If you choose to cook at home instead, just add some MSG to your recipe if you're craving junk food.
3. [deleted] · 1790814868 · focus · HN ↗
  [deleted]
UltraSane · 1790734297 · focus · HN ↗
I will never give McDonald's money after they let Trump use McDonald's to mock Kamala Harris for working at McDonald's. And the food is terrible value for money.
fny · 1790740217 · focus · HN ↗
I often wonder if it's possible to organize to have people collude to refuse any price above breakeven.
hurfdurf · 1790752287 · focus · HN ↗
What does that mean for the Big Mac Index?
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index
alexgieg · 1790756878 · focus · HN ↗
That's alright. I'm willing to pay $1 for a Big Mac. If the algorithm matches that willingness of mine, I may buy one. Maybe.
1. subscribed · 1790758884 · focus · HN ↗
  I thought what they could possibly put into a $1 Big Mac and it wasn't a nice thought :p
  1. skeledrew · 1790760589 · focus · HN ↗
    Got me thinking about Soylent Green...
    jawilson2 · 1790775355 · focus · HN ↗
    That would be an upgrade
TheChaplain · 1790765337 · focus · HN ↗
I haven't had McD for like 15 years, is it any better these days or same thing just pricier?
lurkingllama · 1790784178 · focus · HN ↗
Experienced this first-hand the other day when visiting a newly opened McDonalds in my small town (my first time dining there in ages). A Big Mac meal was $10.80! And what I got in exchange for that price was a poorly assembled burger with almost no sauce.
A couple weeks later, my wife convinced me to try another Big Mac from a different McDonalds. This time, the burger was priced at $8 (not important, but burger tasted a lot better too).
I understand price reflects demand but I can't help but feel a bit scammed.
Fairburn · 1790791629 · focus · HN ↗
Fort. for most of us smart ones, havnt ventured to a McDs in a few years. They have aged like milk. Cant wait for them to die on the vine.
_ifton · 1790802180 · focus · HN ↗
Price surging exploits inertial social pressure. If you are out with a group, it is hard to opt out even if the situation feels exploitative. And it is.
Fire-Dragon-DoL · 1790982857 · focus · HN ↗
I hate the idea of dynamic pricing but whenever I see it applied to McDonald all I can think of is:
So, what? Their food taste terrible, just don't go there and it will solve many problems!

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