Tequila bar sells shots with dynamic pricing

A bar in San Diego, California is selling shots of tequila based on the current popularity of the different brands they serve. Prices at The Blind Burro change by the minute based on demand, using the concept of ‘dynamic pricing’, more often associated with discount airlines.

The Blind Burro’s ‘Tequila Exchange’ offers the tag line “Buy low, shoot plenty” to customers looking to find the best available price. If they choose a Tequila that’s low in popularity at a given time, they’ll pay the lowest price.

When customers buy a few of the same drink, the price then rises accordingly, so unlike traditional bars, the cost is based on demand.

Using software from a Los Angeles-based company The Drink Exchange, the bar tracks the trends in sales of drinks and adjusts the price accordingly, every few minutes. The current prices are displayed on large TV screens above the bar, which also show the daily highs and lows.

Tequila such as Sauza Blue can see a daily price fluctuating from $6.50 to $7.75, a 16% price movement.

It’s a pricing method that will be familiar to anyone involved in selling stocks and share, and it’s a strategy employed by discount airlines and taxi services like Uber – when demand is low and seats are readily available, prices are low. Once the demand grows and the supply of spaces becomes more limited, prices rise.

Last year, a Stock Exchange-themed bar opened in the City of London, offering a similar style of fluctuating prices, but has since closed. Market forces, perhaps?