Dynamic pricing has become a major topic of concern over the past few months as it expands further in to standard retail stores such as Best Buy and Walmart. While these stores have made efforts in implementing this policy, is its existence justified? Or moral?
Dynamic pricing is the process of changing prices of items based on multiple factors including product sales and availability often through the use of pricing algorithms. While this is quite standard when speaking about supply and demand, dynamic pricing is set apart in other ways.
The fundamental difference of the concept lies in its rate of change for prices. This can be be seen in ticketing for events, or for exclusive items, these items may be almost automatically updated in price to account for popularity even when going above MSRP.
This also affects consumers on a personal level, as companies use of online and in-person tracking may adjust prices of items in real time to adjust for personal demand. This can affect people based on income, how often a person buys that item, and many other recorded factors.
When asked about his opinion on the idea of changing prices for individuals in stores, teacher Evan Wiebers said “I think it’s the right of the company to gather data on its customers, but I believe that consumers shouldn’t be punished specifically. Everyone should pay the same price for groceries.”
Wiebers also noted the fault of dynamic pricing, saying “If you go to a Mcdonalds and their burger is $10.99, and you go to a Burger King and the burger is $6.99, which one do you buy? It’s the same concept, if a company is using these changing prices and another isn’t, consumers will go to other companies.”
While it has already faced criticism by many in the public and government, and is still being targeted in grocery stores around the country, dynamic pricing may see implementation in smaller doses in more heavily controlled items.
These items like airline or concert tickets have always been specifically fluctuating based on supply and demand, but with further inclusion of dynamic pricing, customers may be seeing more unprecedented changes.
