Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by aunty_helen 360 days ago
Your grocer doesn’t sell the next person a can of beans at a different price though. Hey nice watch, we have a 50% on discount for you.

I use uber a lot, I’m in one right now. My partners phone consistently gets cheaper estimates.

2 comments

Grocers run coupons and promos to help achieve price discrimination based on purchase timing preferences.
Some even have a coupon app and offer different deals to different people.
Challenge: Implement price discrimination in a setting where all prices are published on the shelf under the product without knowledge of who is viewing the price.

Possibility: Develop a "loyalty" program where customers provide a member id like a phone number at checkout. Anonymous shoppers get the worst pricing. Everybody else voluntarily signs up for price discrimination disguised as rewards.

Also the low-tech version: farmer's markets, bakeries, anything with perishables they sell daily will often give steep discounts or freebies if you show up close to closing, rewarding those that are in-the-know or are willing to modify their schedule to save some cash.
> Your grocer doesn’t sell the next person a can of beans at a different price though.

Yes they do. They even do everything they can to track me so they can optimize the coupons based on the watch I wear.