Pigtails and surge-price sales (RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images) |
|
| Hey Snackers, Siri, play "Forever Young." Tomorrow's leap day means you can finally wish a happy birthday to any friends born on February 29 — you technically won't be able to for another four years. Stocks were mixed yesterday as renewed recession fears dragged down consumer confidence. |
|
|
Avoid the burger rush… and save big by nabbing a Baconator at 6 a.m. Wendy's said it'd begin testing a dynamic-pricing system next year that could pump (or lower) the price of Frostys, burgers, or spicy nuggets depending on demand. Picture a burger combo that costs $10 in the morning costing $12 during a late-night rush. Customers may be used to seeing demand-based pricing on ride-hail apps, gas pumps, and flight-booking sites, but it's creeping into other transactions. |
- The burgorithm: Surge pricing is behind subtotals at Disney parks, Bowlero lanes, AMC theaters, tee times, and even Amazon carts.
- More like Techny's: Wendy's will test dynamic pricing as it rolls out digital-menu boards to its US restaurants (a $20M investment). The square-burger joint has also teased AI-powered drive-thrus and underground delivery bots.
|
Still fast, just not cheap… Fast-food prices rose 6% last year, 7% in 2022, and 8% in 2021. As dollar menus go the way of the dodo, dwindling sales show that customers are balking at $7 Egg McMuffins. McDonald's, which hiked prices by 10% two years straight, reported underwhelming Q4 results. KFC and Taco Bell parent Yum Brands also disappointed. Chipotle (which is doing well) has raised prices five times since 2021, and said California subtotals will surge this year after a minimum-wage bump. |
|
|
 THE TAKEAWAY |
Leaving a bad taste is risky… If Wendy's dynamic-pricing test boosts sales, more fast-food chains could follow suit (it's easy to implement with digital drive-thru screens and app orders). But there's also the risk of a salty backlash: more than half of Americans see surge pricing as equivalent to price gouging, while 50% have stopped visiting a restaurant because of price increases. |
|
|
Ring in the new… Samsung showed off its latest wearable gadget: the Galaxy Ring. The biz said its smart ring will track wearers' sleep movements, heart rate, menstrual cycles, fertility, and more. Samsung's revamped health app will also aggregate users' data into a holistic "Vitality Score." |
- Green-bubble club: The Galaxy Ring will initially only be compatible with Samsung Galaxy devices but will likely open up to other Android phones down the line. It's unlikely to work with Apple products.
- Ecosystem: Samsung wants the Ring to be used alongside its Galaxy smart watch. The tech co said it's building a connected ecosystem that'll compile data from multiple devices (imagine: your Samsung fridge tells your ring you don't drink enough water).
|
One ring to rule them all… Health-tracking wearables have exploded in popularity as people jibe with the "what gets measured, gets managed" mentality. Smart-ring startup Oura has thrived, selling 1M+ wellness-focused rings as of 2022. But competitors are rising up: yesterday, Huawei spinoff Honor announced it's forging an AI-forward ring. Apple has been filing patents for a smart ring since at least 2015. |
- Hands on: Tech cos that already have wrist real estate, like Apple and Samsung, could get a digital edge by adding rings, which may be less obtrusive than watches.
|
|
|
THE TAKEAWAY |
Health sells… and so does health tracking. From logging habits in apps like Strava and MyFitnessPal to paying $2.5K for a preventative MRI scan, people love getting data on themselves. Almost a third of Americans wear a device to track their health and fitness, and half of those wearers use their device daily. The smart-ring market alone is expected to be worth $1.1B in 2028. |
|
|
- Pita : Cava stock popped after the casual Mediterranean chain delivered a surprise quarterly profit and said sales grew 36%. The Chipotle rival has been quickly expanding, with plans for 50 new spots this year.
- iCar: The Apple car may be dead. The tech giant reportedly told employees that it was ditching its decade-long effort to build an electric self-driving car. Tesla might be breathing easier.
- Jetout : An FAA panel assessing Boeing's safety practices said it found a "disconnect" between management and staff on safety culture. The jet-maker's rep is reeling after several high-profile quality issues.
- WaveSzn : Cruise stocks swelled after Norwegian Cruise Line reported its first annual profit since 2019. Norwegian, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean have enjoyed record-high bookings (and RC's 9-month cruise is a TikTok sensation).
- Luxe : Macy's said it'll close 150 of its "unproductive" namesake stores in a luxury-focused pivot. The OG department store plans to open 15 Bloomingdale's and at least 30 Bluemercury beauty stores.
|
🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up here. |
|
|
Home prices in major US metro areas hit a record high in December |
|
|
- Earnings expected from AMC, Baidu, Dollar Tree, Advance Auto Parts, TJX, Warby Parker, WW International, Squarespace, Salesforce, C3.ai, Paramount Global, Okta, Duolingo, HP, and Marathon Digital
|
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Apple, Disney, Norwegian Cruise Line, Tesla, and Yum Brands | |
|
|
