The evening this is about
Every venue has hours that pay for themselves and hours that do not, and almost every venue charges the same for both. Tuesday at three has the same rent, the same staff and the same lights as Saturday at eight — and a third of the chairs.
- Three in the afternoon, the terrace half empty, nothing in place to fill it.
- The kitchen has forty portions of something that will not keep another day.
- Early evening is dead and the nine o'clock has a queue.
- A discount goes out flat across the whole menu because there is no way to be narrower.
What it actually does
- Lets you set a different price for the hours that need help, by day, by hour, by item.
- Keeps it inside limits you set, so nothing ever goes out cheaper than you decided.
- Shows the same price on the menu, at the till and on the bill — one number, no arguments.
- Tells you afterwards whether the cheaper hour actually brought people, or only discounted the ones already coming.
The detail that matters
The last point is the whole tool. Cutting prices always increases covers; that proves nothing. The question is whether the revenue in that hour went up, and whether the people who came at four would have come at eight anyway. Without the measurement it is not pricing, it is hope.
What it does not do
- It does not raise prices on your guests without you. Every rule is one you wrote and can see.
- It does not do surge pricing at the door. Charging more because the room is full is how a restaurant loses a regular.
We would rather you read this before the call than find out after.
Where it sits
Pricing that moves, and food that doesn't reach the bin. Dynamic Pricing is one of three tools in Revenue & Waste, and it runs on the same guest, booking and menu data as the rest of the Suite — so nothing is typed in twice.
Fifteen minutes, no slides.
Tell us how your venue runs and we will say plainly whether Dynamic Pricing helps — and which two or three tools to start with.