What Dynamic Pricing Means for Black Friday Shopping [Video]

If it feels like prices are on a roller coaster ride during the holidays, you’re not imagining things.

Strategies such as dynamic pricing and surge pricing mean that prices may change based on supply and demand, competitor pricing and a shopper’s browsing habits or location. Some price changes happen at regular intervals, while others happen in real time.

Black Friday is “the perfect storm for using dynamic pricing,” says Lisa Bolton, a professor of marketing at Pennsylvania State University.

How will dynamic and surge pricing impact your Black Friday shopping experience this year?

Dynamic pricing vs. surge pricing: You’ll see both

Because of their popularity in retail, travel and entertainment industries, you’ve probably experienced both dynamic and surge pricing. The main difference between dynamic and surge pricing is that dynamic pricing is just that — dynamic — prices move up and down, depending on a variety of factors. Surge pricing, on the other hand, “is a particular type of dynamic pricing where prices …