Surge Pricing

LOAM

LOAM

LOAM

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2004
Posts
13,135
Location
Nottingham
I saw this on sky news earlier today. For anyone who doesn't know, its a system of electronic price tags being trialled across several supermarkets right now which allows the store to increase prices instantly as demand increases. The example given was they can on the fly increase the cost of sandwiches, drinks and crisps during lunch time as demand peaks for these items. Another example was ice creams, beer and bbq food during heatwaves.

Its apparently quite common in America and its only a matter of time before it hits the UK as it will reportedly increase profitability by 3% and several of the big supermarkets are running viability tests now. I've linked to a newspaper article as it explains the history of the process.

I'm appalled at the prospect of this, I think its utterly unfair and exploitative and could leave you seeing a price increase in the time between picking an item up and getting to the till. These supermarkets profits are already vast and I feel like we are reaching a point where capitalism has gone insane. I'm quite angered by this if im honest.

https://www.theguardian.com/technol...omes-to-the-supermarket-dynamic-personal-data

And yes a mirror link sorry

http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/supermarkets-cold-introduce-uber-style-10686460
 
Last edited:
I don't see why it is an issue in principle, though you've correctly highlighted one practical issue with it perhaps:

LOAM said:
I'm appalled at the prospect of this, I think its utterly unfair and exploitative and could leave you seeing a price increase in the time between picking an item up and getting to the till.
Click to expand...

That does need to be mitigated - perhaps with prices only updating over night. They probably could include some prediction into such a scheme too, using weather data etc.. and dynamically increase prices in anticipation of demand.
 
Seems to be a thing across many areas at the moment - basically a way to make money from nothing and like things like tenancy fees will just end up with regulation being forced due to the industries inability to self regulate while the going is good and destroy it for themselves while putting extra burden on people already struggling.

(Not ignoring that supply and demand always influences markets, etc. but this is another level).
 
So I pick up my sandwich @ £2.00 but when I get to the till its now £2.30?
Also at the moment they have meal deals for a sandwich, snack & drink would these be stopped?
 
dowie said:
I don't see why it is an issue in principle, though you've correctly highlighted one practical issue with it perhaps:



That does need to be mitigated - perhaps with prices only updating over night. They probably could include some prediction into such a scheme too, using weather data etc.. and dynamically increase prices in anticipation of demand.
Click to expand...

Its reactivate on the fly, if a surge in people buying product X is seen at the till then the system instantly updates the electronic display on the stands.

It just seems completely wrong to me to sqeeze every last pence out of the population. It breaks being able to budget if your weekly shopping is going to fluctuate that often. I can't see the benefits to the shopper and you can bet your life you wont see prices reduce on low demand items.
 
Well there's nothing we can do about it anyway, complain and you're a lefty who needs to work harder, don't see the problem with it and you're a right wing, tax dodging, capitalist.

I don't see how this would work with those who shop for their groceries online though, in fact it might actually be better to do so if this goes ahead.
 
LOAM said:
Its reactivate on the fly, if a surge in people buying product X is seen at the till then the system instantly updates the electronic display on the stands.

It just seems completely wrong to me to sqeeze every last pence out of the population.
Click to expand...

well it isn't clear that that is being proposed or whether it is per store, per region/group of stores etc...
 
LOAM said:
No, the item on sky was much clearer to be honest.
Click to expand...

well it is all speculation at the moment, I think what you highlighted re: the price changing by the time you get to the till is certainly a issue they will need to address - though there is currently a problem (especially in Tesco it seems) with staff being lazy and leaving out of date price labels on various items re: discounts/special offers etc...

I don't have an issue with the principle though, especially re: reducing waste if you can more efficiently discount stuff and clear it from the shelves
 
adolf hamster said:
is it just me, or does this sound like an excellent platform for ripping people off.

"sorry sir, but the surge system defines lunchtime as any time between 07.00 and 15.00"
Click to expand...

That wouldn't work anywhere there was competition as people would just shop elsewhere.
 
What's stopping supermarkets from doing this already? I mean they have all the sales data so they know when to expect an increase in demand, the same data will be used to make sure they have enough stock.

I guess the electronic pricing allows a far quicker response but they could (or maybe they already are) do this with a member of staff just printing out a new ticket. My guess is that they know if they did it their competitors would jump on them.

Personal pricing though I can see, wonder how long it will be before product pricing can react to things like contactless credit cards / phone payments without us knowing. Price tag see's that Mr x has bought this before at full price several times, no need to have a discount for him.
Tie the above in in with the Amazon style self checkout shopping bag and you could in theory have the same customers paying different prices based on previous shopping habits without knowing.
 
Last edited:
So....

Your on a fixed income {pension etc }

You go into your local supermarket with this system.

You know what you can afford to buy based on the money you have left that week..

Get to the till and it has gone up by 2 - 3 pounds. not much to the trendies that shop in places like Marks and Sparks and waitrose.

But a single mum or pensioner... what do they leave at the checkout that they cant afford that week ?

Add to that the embarassment of having to do that with a queue of people behind them.

This just smacks of another way supermarkets are looking to squeeze money for nothing out of people
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom