4 ms·

One nice theory I've seen floated - which I believe has happened in some places - is for several local restaurants to split the cost of building & running a com

One nice theory I've seen floated - which I believe has happened in some places - is for several local restaurants to split the cost of building & running a combined web store and/or app. If word gets around enough that this is a faster or cheaper overall experience, people will migrate. The only catch there is if the stores want to also continue taking GH/DD/UE orders, in which case the menus and branding might have to be different. In the long run, I honestly think kitchen-only setups optimized for efficiency & food safety will grab a big share of the market. They can experiment with vertical integration, and avoid all the hassles & limitations of sit-down dining. They will be able to more, better, faster and cheaper. It might be hard to copy & paste the entire thing from one city to another, but the core functions should be quite portable.

ethbro 6y ago
It would be insane for restaurants to build their own platforms. It would be crazy smart for someone to standardize an interface (e.g. REST API), let restaurants implement glue to their systems, and then allow a plurality of delivery services to consume and order through the standard interface.
- basch 6y ago
  The POS systems need this natively. So an order from any system is ingested the same as any other ticket typed by an employee on prem. It needs to be a protocol like email or http, not another company with a proprietary aggregator.
  - cozzyd 6y ago
    I recently ordered a pickup order that seemed to just be using the restaurant's POS system. For delivery it's harder because you actually need someone to deliver the food and the logistics are really hard (they have to get there when the food is ready but not too late and not too early, etc.). But... there are like 80 restaurants in a 10 minute walk radius from me, so I can just deal with pickup for now.

ethbro 6y ago

It would be insane for restaurants to build their own platforms. It would be crazy smart for someone to standardize an interface (e.g. REST API), let restaurants implement glue to their systems, and then allow a plurality of delivery services to consume and order through the standard interface.

basch 6y ago
The POS systems need this natively. So an order from any system is ingested the same as any other ticket typed by an employee on prem. It needs to be a protocol like email or http, not another company with a proprietary aggregator.
- cozzyd 6y ago
  I recently ordered a pickup order that seemed to just be using the restaurant's POS system. For delivery it's harder because you actually need someone to deliver the food and the logistics are really hard (they have to get there when the food is ready but not too late and not too early, etc.). But... there are like 80 restaurants in a 10 minute walk radius from me, so I can just deal with pickup for now.