Is dynamic pricing coming to a supermarket near you?

您附近的超市是否采用动态定价?

Planet Money

商务

2024-03-07

25 分钟
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Dynamic pricing is an increasingly common phenomenon: You can see it when Uber prices surge during rainy weather, or when you're booking a flight at the last minute or buying tickets to your favorite superstar's concert. On an earnings call last week, Wendy's ignited a minor controversy by suggesting it would introduce dynamic pricing in its restaurants, but the company quickly clarified that it wasn't planning on using it for "surge pricing." One place you hardly ever see dynamic pricing? American supermarkets. Why is that? Why shouldn't the prices for meat or bread or produce go down as they get older? Why does all the milk in the store cost the same, even when the "sell by" dates are weeks apart? Wouldn't a little more flexibility around prices be better for customers and help reduce waste? Professors Robert Evan Sanders and Ioannis (Yannis) Stamatopoulus had similar questions. So they set out to discover what was keeping supermarkets from employing a more dynamic approach, and what might convince them it was time for a change ... in pricing. This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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  • Truth, independence, fairness, transparency, respect, excellence.

  • This is NPR.

  • Heads up.

  • In this episode, we mention Amazon, whole Foods and Walmart, all companies that directly or indirectly sponsor NPR.

  • This is planet money from Nprdez.

  • The other day I got a call from my pal Amanda Aronczyk.

  • Hello, Nick.

  • How are you?

  • I'm good.

  • Where are you?

  • I am in my local supermarket.

  • Okay.

  • Why are you facetiming me from the supermarket?

  • Good question.

  • I came here not because I wanted to shop, but because I wanted to show you something that's been bothering me.

  • Ooh, I love a supermarket mystery.

  • Okay, this is a gallon of milk.

  • And when's the sell by date?

  • That's tomorrow.

  • That is tomorrow.