Dutch carrier Corendon Airlines is adding an adults-only zone to one Caribbean route this fall. The 16+ section will be separated from dastardly loud children by a curtain, a move the airline says will also benefit families (i.e., less worrying about kids being noisy). But — oh, weird — sitting in the special section will cost an extra $49-$109 for the “extra peace of mind.”
In today’s email:
Surge pricing: The tactic is no longer reserved for Ubers.
Sent up: How did email become a lucrative field?
Pay up, baby: New parents are paying to get their kids social-media ready.
Around the web: “Girl,” as defined by the internet; a salary database; how to get real feedback, and more.
👇 Listen: Raising beer prices on weekends and evenings is good business but also the worst.
The big idea
Bad news: Surge pricing is here to stay
More industries are using AI to change prices based on supply and demand.
2023-09-21T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
You know the drill: You’re huddled under an awning, caught in a torrential downpour, and open your Uber app to see that a ride home will cost 4x its normal price.
The same goes for booking hotels or flights last minute or during holidays — as demand goes up, so do the prices.
According to the Financial Times, surge pricing (also known as “dynamic” pricing”) is becoming more popular across industries:
Stonegate Group, Britain’s largest pub company, recently introduced surge pricing at ~800 of its pubs, raising beer prices on weekends and evenings.
Ticketmaster’spricing has sent many fans, faced with concert tickets selling for 2x their face value, into an uproar.
Amazon uses real-time data to track demand and changes product prices every 10 minutes on average.
And the only thing holding physical stores back from using dynamic pricing is the time-consuming task of updating price stickers — but tech is changing that.
Walmart is bringing digital price tags into 500 of its stores, and French supermarket chain Carrefour has been using electronic shelf labels since 2014.
If this makes you mad…
… blame AI. More companies are adopting dynamic pricing tactics as machine learning technology becomes more accessible and affordable.
And there are services devoted to making surge pricing easier for brands, such as Quicklizard, whose dynamic pricing tools are used by companies like Sephora and Ikea.
Shocking to absolutely no one…
… Consumers don’t like this. Many of us have a thing against, y’know, spending more money:
In the UK, 71% of music fans polled last year said they opposed surge pricing for concerts.
In the US, 52% of surveyed consumers said they think dynamic pricing in restaurants is equivalent to price gouging.
Some research even suggests that pricing algorithms can harm consumers.
How businesses will handle the pushback remains to be seen. But, in the demure words of Ticketmaster’s ex-CEO Fred Rosen: “It’s called the ticket business, it’s not called the ticket fan club.”
Free Resource
Take this shiny social media workbook
If you have a knack for slapping on socials, you know it in your gut — but maximizing your skills requires some structure.
Use this social media workbook to craft a strategy that sets you apart from a sea of subpar brands. It guides you through setting targets, researching competitors, raising a community, and more sensible ways to succeed.
May you reach your peak potential and become the next @TacoBell.
Yikes: Since 2017, Dollar General has accrued $25m+ in fines and failed hundreds of safety inspections. A Bloomberg deep dive checks in with its miserable employees, who say the chain blocks fire exits, sells expired and bird poop-covered items, and attracts dangerous customers.
SNIPPETS
Stanford University said it will return gifts received from bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. A lawsuit against founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents — both tenured Stanford law professors — alleges that the school received millions in donations from FTX.
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s neurotech startup, received approval to start recruiting patients for its first human clinical trials. The company’s brain implant aims to help patients with paralysis control tech — like a computer cursor or keyboard — with their brain.
Walmart is opening a pet center that will offer veterinary care and grooming. The pilot location near Atlanta will have a separate entrance from the main store and be staffed by employees of vet care company PetIQ.
“Fortnight” players who were charged for unwanted items can now claim their piece of Epic Games’ $245m settlement with the FTC. The FTC says 37m+ players may qualify.
Whoa: Scientists were able to sequence RNA from an extinct species — specifically, a Tasmanian tiger that died in 1936 — for the first time. Research, not a Jurassic Park-style resurrection, was the goal.
In the latest Taylor Swift news… The artist partnered with Google to tease new song titles for her upcoming re-recorded album, “1989,” with a puzzle game. Fans won access to the titles after solving 33m puzzles in a matter of hours.
FROM THE BLOG
Fintech has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry, but how can you get a piece of the pie? We broke down all the fintech opportunities entrepreneurs can tap in to.
video
Learn why newsletters are a million-dollar business (in just three minutes)
This one’s near and dear to our hearts — and wallets.
Want to know how us fat cats in Email City can afford to live lavishly, silver spoons in mouth, just from gumming up your inbox?
Let’s dial back to 2008 Facebook
As our friend Caya, CEO of cloud-based presentation software startup Slidebean, lays out in his nifty explainer video, email’s current business prowess mimics the early days of Facebook, where brands could reliably reach their target audience without paying extra for reach.
Now email has taken up that mantle, as a medium that offers that direct connection — without companies like Google and, yep, Meta, getting in the middle for a cut.
Still, you have to do it well
Over 347B emails are sent and received globally every day, and a whole ~56% of them are spam.
That’s a lot of noise to cut through. But if you can build a strong relationship with your audience (hi, we love you) and keep them coming back (thanks, see you tomorrow), there’s business gold to be found.
The revenue can add up pretty fast — just maybe not quite as fast as this three-minute video.
Parents are shelling out on services for picture-perfect bundles of joy.
2023-09-21T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
Have you attended a gender reveal party recently that was more elaborate than your wedding?
Today’s parents aren’t messing around when it comes to their baby’s social media presence. The global baby products market was valued at $214B in 2021, and money is pouring into services fit for Instagram:
Decor for gender reveals abounds on sites like Etsy, and events companies charge thousands for executing upscale baby showers.
Newborn photo shoots are everywhere, with parents hiring professional photographers to document their child’s earliest moments.
Cribs and strollers, which double as status symbols, can cost well into the thousands.
There’s even a growing group of interior design firms that’ve made baby nurseries their specialty.
Naomi Coe of Little Crown Interiors tells The Hustle that her Southern California clients spend an average of $15k-$20k decorating a nursery, with some clients dishing out as much as $80k.
And design trends are as powerful in the baby industry as they are with adults: The “sad beige” trend has gripped social media so tightly that some have questioned if it’s harming babies’ development.
The trends don’t stop at material goods…
… They’re actually influencing who babies are. Or, at least, what they’re named.
Baby naming consultants are taking to TikTok to name people’s babies — for a price:
Colleen Slagen of Naming Bebe offers packages ranging from 10 names for $250 to 30 names for $400.
The baby name site Nameberry charges $350 for an hourlong meeting with a naming consultant, and $10k for nine months of on-call naming advice and unlimited meetings.
So, for parents who want to keep it picture-perfect on social, these services can really add up.
Hot tip: ChatGPT will name your kid for free.
AROUND THE WEB
🇺🇲 On this day: In 1780, amid the American Revolution, General Benedict Arnold discussed a deal with British Major John Andre, cementing his legacy as one of history’s most infamous traitors.
👫 That’s interesting: Examining the word “girl” on the internet (e.g., “girl dinner,” “hot girl walks,” etc.)
👂 How to:Solicit real, honest feedback from customers.
💸 Useful: Salary Transparent Street revamped its salary database so you can research salaries across industries for discussions about pay. Check it out here.
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Today’s email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman.
Editing by: Ben “Will name any baby for less than $10k” Berkley.Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
