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Comment by sharemywin | Hacker News Reader

I still haven't figured out how an app would get a monopoly?

Each city is pretty independent so there's not much incumbent advantage.

Seems like a reasonable discount would get someone to try a new app.

Drivers aren't loyal. If a restaurant uses any app they probably don't care where the order comes from.

Taco bell and other chains might be hard to get but is the market for taco bell or mcdonalds that big for delivery? and seems like it clutters the app anyway.

DashPass what does it get you? lower fees they should be charging anyway?

Am I missing something?

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If you already have the app you usually start by checking what options are available there.

As a user, I don't want to install another app, create an account, fill out my address and delivery details, and put in my billing information. Some restaurants have their own online ordering system which lets you automatically fill everything out with PayPal and such.

Besides, what is there to compete on?

Price. Some kind of discount on the first order.

Anti corporate Local only option.

In app clutter. Walgreens coming up when you search for desserts.

I trust the app to be a more reliable intermediary between me and the restaurant rather than ordering directly. I trust that the app is more technically sound (I've had problems ordering from 'bespoke' apps and websites) and won't forget my order or route it to different city/country or something (things that have happened). Some apps offer tracking of the courier (can be nice to have) and give features that 'bespoke' options don't have.

Also, you get reviews and discoverability of options. I can go to a different city and see all the delivery options immediately.

Unlike a lot of people here, I've had great experiences with food delivery apps. Not doordash (not a thing where I live), but others. I knew people working as delivery bikers and they said it can be a decent way to earn a living while you're studying. The flexible nature of the work lends itself well to that.

'Bespoke' used to mean something else. From now on, "duck" means my toaster blew a fuse again.

I’ll bite. What do you believe is the meaning of ‘bespoke’ as used here?

It's used here in the most current meaning. Not "to speak for," or "nice stuff," but for "limited, hurry and get it."

Two and three are melding a bit, but the word has been twisted and abused, and for some reason liked enough by influencers now that it's come around again. Sort of like Toto's Africa.

if your a traveler then yes. it absolutely makes sense. Totally would use big app to check out the restaurants reviews although google does reviews too.

I assume most of these situations are (if they actually thought this through that far) is achieve enough coverage and then institute some sort of predatory type deal with the local stores that locks them into their service / gives them deals on pricing and etc.

None of these seem to make sense in a dynamic free market with healthy competition.

The thing that's worked in the past for companies is free digital options where your marginal distribution costs are 0. But drivers that's not the case. Could driverless tech work maybe. but would commercial driverless cars have apis?

My credit card has an annual fee, but includes DashPass for free when I use it. So, if I order twice a month, I'm even-ish on costs versus the discounts.

If there aren't any coupons available to me, then I sometimes try to optimize an order around a delivery minimum. Typical fast food restaurants are surprisingly good targets for this.

I think of the delivery fees + tips I pay as the cost of convenience. They mean I can sit around in my pajamas, playing a game or watching a movie, while slightly intoxicated. Or, I can read a book outside while I wait, if it's nice out.

> My credit card has an annual fee, but includes DashPass for free when I use it. So, if I order twice a month, I'm even-ish on costs versus the discounts.

Technically you are not even-ish, you just spend more money. It's like buying a piece of clothing that's on sale - you don't save money unless you intended to purchase that exact (or an equivalent) item anyway. So unless you were anyway going to buy that specific food (rather than e.g. cook your own food, make a sandwich, or bake a frozen pizza) you are not at all profiting.

Oh no, I don't profit at all. More like, I know I'm going to be spending here, so I'm going to grab some perks where I can.

* Annual card fee is cheaper than DashPass * Decent points rewards from the card itself * DashPass significantly reduces fees * I use promotional discounts when I can

I expect to order food for delivery at least twice per month anyways, and the savings I get from this scheme offset the annual fee on the card. Plus, I keep some other delivery apps on my phone in case they send me desperation coupons.

I do also keep some frozen goodies, but I consider ordering out to be a treat. I just like to eat, and sometimes, KFC is what's gonna hit me right. Other times, a frozen pizza, which I greatly prefer to cheap chain-store pizza.

This is a ludicrous system. Imagine trying to explain this to someone from 1970.

unless they lined up deals with every major credit card company then the market could get segmented up. Which point it's not really a value for the credit card company. so I still see some kind of competition.

> Drivers aren't loyal. If a restaurant uses any app they probably don't care where the order comes from.

Some drivers probably drive for multiple companies, and cherry-pick the best order that comes up.

I know I've seen drivers who drove for Uber and Lyft at the same time. Seems like the same is likely true for the food services.

youtube's full of drivers talking about using multiple apps.

The exclusivity agreements are between the restaurant and the courier. DoorDash has a massive sales team to negotiate contracts.

The theory is that restaurants may not be fungible to all diners and that by contracting with as many restaurants as possible, the competition becomes less attractive.

I don't know of any exclusivity clauses in contracts. Most restaurants are on GrubHub and Doordash and UberEats.

mostly they have solved the problem of "i've heard of this service and i will go to their homepage to search for restaurants when i want to order delivery"

still think the market could be segmented to remove the clutter(aka taco bell). And an incentive like $15 off your first order etc

Kind of like Etsy and Ebay.

A brand is basically a monopoly on a part of your brain.

There are only so many brands that fit inside a person's brain, so for every category there's usually only one brand in memory.

> I still haven't figured out how an app would get a monopoly?

They don’t have a monopoly, that’s why.

But that's the premise why they've got such a huge multiple.

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