What makes Grubhub/doordash/etc so valuable to consumers, though, wouldn't be replicated by a premade system like that, though, no matter how good it was.
The killer feature is that it is a single market place. I go on the app, I can search through dozens of local restaurants, all with a consistent interface. I can place an order in a couple of clicks at a brand new restaurant I have never tried, and I dont have to enter any new information.
I can scroll through all my previous orders at all the previous restaurants, and re-order in one click.
This service can ONLY be provided by a unified platform. It doesn't matter how good a restaurants website is, I want ALL the restaurants in one place.
Now, could it be cheaper for restaurants? Does GH take too much of a cut? Maybe, but I don't know.... GH and DD both lose a ton of money, and have spent a ridiculous amount of money to get to where they are. Could anyone provide the service for a lot cheaper? If they could, they sure haven't yet.
I think the challenge here is that all the competitors are exceptionally well funded venture backed companies that are fighting to be the winner who takes it all. We don't know what this market would look like without the flood of exceptionally venture money to finance the engineers and discounts and all.
Sustainable delivery would probably more bifurcated. I could imagine a range of food types that are delivery-centric (think pizza & Chinese) in areas with cheaper rents & smaller (or non-non-existant) dining rooms, and more delivery-optimized (high margin, easy to transport) food, with their own delivery drivers - and that a lot of other venues wouldn't do delivery, or would partner w/ a service like Lyft or Postmates when necessary, and it'd be expensive.
It might be healthier for the restaurants, but it doesn't seem better for consumers. I want a solution that still lets me only have a single portal I have to interact with to order my food.
This was kind of the dream of the Semantic web. It's a fantasy though because it promotes competition and good customer outcomes and our system's main concern is moats and profit.
I think there's a seam between discovery and ordering. If I am traveling on business, and I don't know what's in the area, then a unified interface is valuable.
But if I know which restaurant I want, then the unified ordering apps are charging restaurants for a service (discovery) that the restaurant doesn't need any more. Seems crummy.
I think you are calling for something like the Instacart Marketplace for restaurants. These already exists SkipTheDishes.com is one of them; they primarily do delivery.
The killer feature is that it is a single market place. I go on the app, I can search through dozens of local restaurants, all with a consistent interface. I can place an order in a couple of clicks at a brand new restaurant I have never tried, and I dont have to enter any new information.
I can scroll through all my previous orders at all the previous restaurants, and re-order in one click.
This service can ONLY be provided by a unified platform. It doesn't matter how good a restaurants website is, I want ALL the restaurants in one place.
Now, could it be cheaper for restaurants? Does GH take too much of a cut? Maybe, but I don't know.... GH and DD both lose a ton of money, and have spent a ridiculous amount of money to get to where they are. Could anyone provide the service for a lot cheaper? If they could, they sure haven't yet.