How to protect against companies using dynamic pricing
- Fast food companies and online retailers have begun using dynamic pricing
- Expert: Companies use market research and customer data to set prices
- Shopping as a guest, clearing your cache and hiding location can help
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(NewsNation) — Once a tool used just by airlines and rideshare apps, companies across industries are now using dynamic pricing to get more money out of customers.
Certified financial planner Bobbi Rebell says companies are able to do this based on data, some of which consumers give companies voluntarily and some which they can see in wider economic trends.
“They use that data to figure out not only how to get us to buy something, but how to buy something at that time at the highest price that we are willing to pay at that time,” Rebell said in an appearance on NewsNation’s “Morning in America.”
The rise of food delivery apps and digital menus have made it easier for companies to implement dynamic pricing, alerting consumers of “deals” based on their purchasing patterns.
“You can walk into a McDonald’s and everyone will pay the same price because you look at the menu board and the price is the price is the price and they don’t have data on you necessarily. So they say we’ll give you better prices if you go to the app. Well, great, but you’re going to put in a lot of data into the app, and then they’re going to be able to track what you’re doing,” Rebell said.
However, there are ways to avoid dynamic pricing. Rebell says shopping online as a guest, hiding your location when shopping online and clearing your browsers of cookies and cache can help prevent falling into dynamic pricing.