Fast food chain The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has hit back at speculation that it will begin raising prices at times of high demand, saying plans unveiled earlier this week were “misconstrued”.
Investors had been told of schemes to introduce artificial intelligence-powered digital menus, through which new features such as “dynamic pricing” would be tested.
This would be similar to a system used by ride-hailing-come-food delivery firm Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER, ETR:UT8), which prices services based on the likes of weather or traffic at the time of ordering.
‘Dynamic pricing’ itself refers to the practice of raising or lowering prices in real-time in response to higher or lower demand.
However, Wendy’s ruled out speculation that the new system would be used to inflate prices at busy times, after receiving backlash over the plans.
“This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants,” the chain said in a press release.
“We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most.”
US senator Senator Elizabeth Warren had been among those to criticise Wendy’s over the plan, writing on social media on Wednesday that it was “price gouging plain and simple”.
The move meant people “could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy's stays exactly the same,” she said.
Wendy’s argued new features “would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members,” meanwhile.
“Digital menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day,” the chain added.