Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media Founder, Shawn Walchef spoke on The Restaurant Growth Show powered by Dynpricing to discuss dynamic pricing and restaurants greatest fear. He also spoke to hosts Gordon Paterson and Jose Albis about incentivizing customer loyalty.

Cali BBQ, have garnered national attention for implementing dynamic pricing. Often misunderstood as “surge pricing,” Walchef clarifies the distinction between the two. Dynamic pricing involves adjusting prices based on supply and demand, a concept familiar to the restaurant industry. By partnering with tech companies like Juicer, Walchef ensures dynamic pricing benefits everyone, creating loyal customers through strategic pricing adjustments.

Walchef is careful to make the distinction between the two pricing strategies. 

“Dynamic incremental pricing is something that, as you guys know, we’ve been doing in restaurants since the beginning of time with happy hour and with early bird specials.” he explains. “We don’t want to be cheated. No one wants to be cheated. And I think when you say the word surge, you think of 2X the price, 3X the price. That is surge pricing.”

Addressing the core concerns of restaurateurs, Walchef highlights the dual fear of being overly scrutinized or completely overlooked. Despite the growing national spotlight on Cali BBQ, the focus remains on serving their local community and leveraging technology to build trust and prioritizing doing the best job within their community while using technology to share their knowledge with other restaurateurs around the world.

“It’s literally the greatest fear that every restaurant and every business owner has is that everyone’s going to be talking about you or no one’s going to be talking about you. And ultimately, it’s somewhere in between everyone.”  he says. “All we can do is do the best job that we can in our village, in our space, but also leverage technology to teach other restaurateurs and other people that believe in us.”

While acquiring new customers is crucial, retaining them is paramount for sustained success. Walchef and Cali BBQ have teamed up with Incentivio to create a custom app for their new Navy location, aiming to incentivize repeat visits. By gamifying rewards and creating meaningful incentives, Walchef aims to foster a loyal customer base that returns time and again, benefiting both the business and its patrons.

Walchef describes his vision for dynamic pricing and loyalty programs: “In my mind, that is what dynamic pricing is. Loyalty is really the key differentiator for how do you incentivize people to come more often?”

Walchef’s appearance on The Restaurant Growth Show sheds light on the nuanced approach to dynamic pricing, the importance of local focus amidst national attention, and innovative strategies for customer retention. His insights are invaluable for restaurateurs looking to leverage technology and foster loyal customer relationships.

Digital Hospitality is an interview-based video podcast hosted by business owner Shawn P. Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) and produced by his Cali BBQ Media company sponsored by DAVO Sales Tax (@davosalestax) and Marqii (@getmarqii) The weekly digital series explores the ways successful businesses and entrepreneurs have merged old and new with innovative digital strategies that harness the power of the Internet and social media. Shawn is the founder of Cali BBQ Media and creator of the Restaurant Influencers podcast on Entrepreneur Media.

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