Wendy's is going to start making its food more expensive during busy periods of the day

Wendy's is going to be increasing the prices of its food based on demand.

The food chain serves on average almost 33,000 customers a day (as of last year).

While it had a brief dip in employees and revenue in recent years, it's since rebounded and is now the second-most popular fast food restaurant in the US, following McDonald's.

But the chain is looking to shake things up as it tests the new system, dubbed as 'dynamic pricing', that it's introducing next year.

Wendy's is investing a whopping $20 million in new digital menu boards in the US that will reflect the changing prices depending on the time of day.

A bit like Uber, at peak times the food will become more expensive.

The huge investment will also go towards funding 'AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling'.

"We expect our digital menu boards will drive immediate benefits to order accuracy, improve crew experience and sales growth from upselling and consistent merchandising execution," Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said in an earnings call, as per CNN.

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Elsewhere, Wendy's said in a statement to USA Today: "As early as 2025, we plan to test a number of features such as AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling based on factors such as weather that we think will provide great value and an improved customer and crew experience."

If the new pricing system works, some think other restaurants may follow suit.

AI tech has already been introduced to some Wendy's, with drive thru customers who visit certain restaurants finding themselves greeted with an automated voice rather than an actual server.

It was first launched in June and has been met with some trepidation.

As one person suggested that 'the future is here', another wrote on TikTok: "My food will be a disaster since Siri and Alexa don't understand my needs."

"Nah, I would drive away," said another.

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Someone else went on: "AI shouldn’t be used just yet. I still get annoyed when I’m just trying to call customer service and this b**ch doesn’t understand."

Others were more in favor of it, however.

Someone quipped: "Better attitude than a real person."

"I'm here for it," penned a second. "When can we get automation to make our fast food and deliver it to us through the window? We NEED full automus fast food. No excuses."

Could AI really be the future of fast food?

Topics: Food and Drink, Artificial Intelligence, US News, News, Money

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

@niamhshackleton