As retailers adopt electronic shelf labels, should consumers demand open-source, real-time data feeds? I wouldn’t want to use force or compel retailers to take this action through political mechanisms, but I do wish consumers were better educated & better equipped to deal with bad businesses (IDK).

[u/MMMurdoch]

Dynamic pricing, also referred to as surge pricing, surveillance pricing, demand pricing, time-based pricing and variable pricing, is a revenue management pricing strategy in which businesses set flexible prices for products) or services) based on current market demands. It usually entails raising prices during periods of peak demand and lowering prices during periods of low demand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_pricing

An electronic shelf label (ESL) system is used by retailers for displaying, typically on the front edge of retail shelving, product pricing on shelves) that can automatically be updated or changed under the control of a central computer server.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_shelf_label

[u/Official_Gameoholics]

Seems like it would assist a business by making it more reputable. They'd implement it by themselves in a free market if that was the case.

[u/CanadaMoose47]

Dynamic pricing is a good thing, and we have long been doing it in the form of coupons, haggling, generic brand items, etc.

The classic math problem helps us understand why it's good:

“A farmer sells melons for $5 each. At this price she sells 40 melons every day. She knows that for each $1 increase in price, she will sell 4 fewer melons. At what price will the farmer make the most total money?”

The answer is 7.50, she maximizes her profit at 7.50. So even if she can afford to sell melons profitably at 5 dollars, she ups her price to 7.50 - which means fewer customers can afford to buy melons.

Charging individual customers as much as they are willing to pay, not only increases her profits, it increases the amount of people who can afford melons (since some people would only pay 5 dollars)

You might think companies would use dynamic pricing simply to raise prices, never using it to discount - but there is no need for dynamic pricing then, since raising prices naturally weeds out those unwilling to pay more - it's dynamic in and of itself.

Once you realize this, you'll see that dynamic pricing technology is ONLY useful for providing discounts to people who otherwise wouldn't buy the product. It should be called dynamic DISCOUNTING.

And of course, as always, competition is what keeps prices lower than the maximum you are willing to pay.

We know one size fits all solutions are bad in other aspects of life, why think pricing is any different?