3 ms·

> crews are blown out to the max with mobile orders these days Why would the way the order is made make any difference?

ramesh31 3y ago
>Why would the way the order is made make any difference? It's the volume. Fast food work used to come in rushes, with a volume limited by the physical location. Now for many locations it's a nonstop queue of online orders from half a dozen systems from the first minute you open to the last minute you close. Great for business terrible for humans.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  It's the decision of the business to understaff relative to the expected demand in order to minimize labor costs. They could so easily have another one or two people working to make it better for everyone, they simply choose not to so they can squeeze that little extra bit of profit out.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    Understaffing has become the norm with the rise in wages.
    - giraffe_lady 3y ago
      Preceded it by many years in fast food. Algorithm-optimized minimal labor scheduling based on previous sales was being used at starbucks and mcdonalds at least in 2014, but probably earlier and probably elsewhere too.
      - WalterBright 3y ago
        The higher the price of labor, the more incentive there is to match the labor schedule with the need.
        giraffe_lady 3y ago
        Yes but again the intentional understaffing preceded the jump in labor costs we've seen the last few years. So regardless of how powerful the incentives are, they weren't the cause of that change.
scld 3y ago
A physical line has historically been a de facto surge price. You have to pay the cost of the meal plus your own opportunity cost of waiting in line. The long line is also a signal of how long your food will really take. Mobile options almost completely eliminated that, so you have way more orders at a time than you otherwise would (or the restaurant needs a digital queue of some sort)
- WalterBright 3y ago
  I like walking to McD's and ordering while I walk, then just saunter in and grab it. No waiting.

>Why would the way the order is made make any difference? It's the volume. Fast food work used to come in rushes, with a volume limited by the physical location. Now for many locations it's a nonstop queue of online orders from half a dozen systems from the first minute you open to the last minute you close. Great for business terrible for humans.

giraffe_lady 3y ago
It's the decision of the business to understaff relative to the expected demand in order to minimize labor costs. They could so easily have another one or two people working to make it better for everyone, they simply choose not to so they can squeeze that little extra bit of profit out.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  Understaffing has become the norm with the rise in wages.
  - giraffe_lady 3y ago
    Preceded it by many years in fast food. Algorithm-optimized minimal labor scheduling based on previous sales was being used at starbucks and mcdonalds at least in 2014, but probably earlier and probably elsewhere too.
    - WalterBright 3y ago
      The higher the price of labor, the more incentive there is to match the labor schedule with the need.
      - giraffe_lady 3y ago
        Yes but again the intentional understaffing preceded the jump in labor costs we've seen the last few years. So regardless of how powerful the incentives are, they weren't the cause of that change.

scld 3y ago

A physical line has historically been a de facto surge price. You have to pay the cost of the meal plus your own opportunity cost of waiting in line. The long line is also a signal of how long your food will really take. Mobile options almost completely eliminated that, so you have way more orders at a time than you otherwise would (or the restaurant needs a digital queue of some sort)

WalterBright 3y ago
I like walking to McD's and ordering while I walk, then just saunter in and grab it. No waiting.