Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market • Hacker News Board

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#251

Post by kgdiem » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:09 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #191

Aurornis wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing how many Gen Z people use food delivery services on a weekly or even daily basis was mind blowing to me. I’ve had numerous conversations where I’ve had to bite my tongue when younger colleagues complained about finances after also explaining that they DoorDash dinner nearly every night. It’s bizarre. Not all Gen Z, of course. Most of the younger people I’ve worked with have been generally smart about finances.…

Even the subtitle of this article basically enforces that fact: > Why is my $8 burger $23 after fees - An average reddit user As you say, it's a private taxi for your burrito. When you factor in the labor costs, gas/car maint costs, and the amortized cost of providing the service, it's hard to see why anyone would think $15 for an on-demand delivery in a major urban area is abnormal.

Here’s something WiLd and crazy — “in town” or “in range” delivery used to be free in major urban areas, and you’d tip the delivery driver $2-5.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#252

Post by keysdev » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:13 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #11

This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…

This is just mega corporatism in general, which was first pioneered by the Nazi Germany. Now it is just exported to US disguising as capitalism.

US is just following the playbook of IG Farben back in Nazi Time.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#253

Post by n4r9 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:18 AM UTC

billy99k wrote: post #163

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #11

This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…

All mature markets eventually end up with 3-5 competitors dominating the market. I don't really see this as an issue. I also disagree that it's a net negative. Technology adds convenience to these markets and as long as the government isn't price-fixing through strict regulations, we also end up with better prices. We've seen some of the prices increase after the government decided to regulate the hotel markets. They…

Market consolidation usually leads to higher prices, and it can certainly happen with 3 big players dominating a market. AirBnb is an interesting example. My gut feeling is that the service fees (and cleaning fees, bizarrely) are climbing as they gain market share. Unfortunately I'm finding it extremely difficult to get information about what their service fees were in (say) 2015. Would be interested if anyone else knows a good way to find out.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#254

Post by potato3732842 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:25 AM UTC

BriggyDwiggs42 wrote: post #236

lynx97 wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because Americans have an obesity problem doesn't make every food vendor a drug dealer. Come on, get real. Basically everything that is being sold can be abused by the user. Does that mean every vendor of anything is potentially a bad actor? I believe you are exaggregating. BTW, I virtually never thought about Thiel when I ordered a Pizza. Is there a reason why you drag the owners into this? It basically sounds…

It’s by degrees right? You can make a business that treats people as well as you can manage while feeding yourself, but almost anybody will want more than that, and some people want way more than that for a variety of social and innate reasons. Eventually you cross some arbitrary threshold where you’re doing, or at least enabling, really awful mistreatment of people and you use the level of indirection you have or so…

>Also, not that this is particularly important, but many or most of them (the extremely rich) dislike and look down on you because they need to in order to feel alright about their position

The rich don't give a shit. They're comfortable in their position. It's the uppity doctors, lawyers, techies, and everyone else with an office job that need to feel like they're better than the plumber, line cook and brick layer.

Every idiot who lives in a good school district with manicured lawns and reads the nutrition facts on the frozen dinner they're buying at Target thinks they're saving the world by telling the politicians to ban fireworks and menthols.

Yeah I know that's a broad brush, don't care.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#255

Post by n4r9 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:27 AM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #63

daedrdev wrote: post #23

I think the truth is restaurant food delivery is a luxgury good, literally “private taxi for your burrito” yet many people spend like it isnt.

Seeing how many Gen Z people use food delivery services on a weekly or even daily basis was mind blowing to me. I’ve had numerous conversations where I’ve had to bite my tongue when younger colleagues complained about finances after also explaining that they DoorDash dinner nearly every night. It’s bizarre. Not all Gen Z, of course. Most of the younger people I’ve worked with have been generally smart about finances.…

I was born in the 80s in the UK. When I was a teenager, my family had a takeaway meal delivered every Wednesday night. My dad would ring up the restaurant, tell them the order and our address, and pay the driver when they arrived. It cost us exactly what it would cost someone going to the restaurant, plus a small 5-10% tip to the delivery driver. Most places had a delivery fee only if you live outside a certain radius or your order was under £20 or something. This was very typical for families at the time, and restaurants would directly hire delivery drivers.

The problem here is not the concept of food delivery, which has been widespread for decades and used to be very cheap. It was not always a luxury service. The problem is that tech companies have become an established middle-man platform and are driving up the prices for a small amount of added convenience. And it's often a net-negative in my experience, having now sworn off Just Eat after some horrendous experiences and negligible customer service.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#256

Post by fireflash38 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:33 AM UTC

zugi wrote: post #144

fasterik wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a George Carlin bit about politicians. The punchline is "the problem isn't the politicians, it's the people." His point is that nothing emerges from a vaccuum. Politicians are people just like everyone else, they're just responding to incentives created by a majority vote. Tech companies are just like any other company, except a lot more people are willing to pay for their goods and services. If Carlin were a…

"Monopoly" used to mean a single company controlling a market. Now folks are now hollering "monopoly" about five different companies competing and collectively capturing 90% of a market? Plus the market is artificially defined to be small. It excluded companies that do their own delivery (pizza places and others), home food delivery that isn't from restaurants, and the old option of just driving yourself to a restaur…

What are the primary problems with monopolies? Do you think those exact same problems could be seen by a small group of of companies who act in a monopolistic manner (much like a cartel)?

I think you are stuck on the definition of the word monopoly rather than the reason behind why we ban/rule against them.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#257

Post by AbstractH24 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:36 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #11

This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…

I’m realizing more and more that it’s rarely technological advances that make any particular company successful and impactful. It’s more often the business acumen.

Were “nerds” with coding skills really ever the best ones to be starting companies? How many successful ones were founded without leadership being handed over to “suits” pretty early on?

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#258

Post by kazinator » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:36 AM UTC

fasterik wrote: post #101

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #11

This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…

There's a George Carlin bit about politicians. The punchline is "the problem isn't the politicians, it's the people." His point is that nothing emerges from a vaccuum. Politicians are people just like everyone else, they're just responding to incentives created by a majority vote. Tech companies are just like any other company, except a lot more people are willing to pay for their goods and services. If Carlin were a…

Tech companies are not like other companies because they can trivially create vendor lock-in without any geographic constraints on where the customers are.

In fact, it's harder to avoid vendor-lock in in tech; it takes extra work to open things up, possibly a lot of extra work.

Even a well-intentioned open-source program can garner a user base which can't easily migrate off it.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#259

Post by potato3732842 » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:40 AM UTC

motorest wrote: post #209

lynx97 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"completely out of touch" is definitely an exaggregationg. Besides, as if competition would really increase quality. Where I dwell, we have around 3 active delivery services. Only 1 of them has an app with useable UX, icnluding accessibility. Competition? Meh. What for? So that I can watch the smaller guys blunder their way to the top?

> "completely out of touch" is definitely an exaggregationg. Is it, though? I mean, can you present a coherent argument supporting the idea that a global market being dominated by 5 multinational corporations does not flag a risk of anticompetitive practices? > Competition? Meh. What for? So that I can watch the smaller guys blunder their way to the top? Is this what you have to offer to refute the idea you're comple…

If by "coherent" you mean the Webster definition then yeah, anyone can.

If by coherent you mean "using only facts and opinions that I accept at face value within my world view" then no.

Personally, I think 5 is way too little. But there are probably some markets for various products and services where 5 is fine. I don't think the number matters so much as that there be potential for a long tail of upstarts who could potentially displace a big player quickly. Whether 95% of the market is captured 2 or 22 players doesn't matter, they gotta know that someone is waiting to take their place if they screw up.

Re: Five companies now control over 90% of the restaurant food delivery market

#260

Post by yifanl » Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 10:41 AM UTC

AbstractH24 wrote: post #257

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #11

This is essentially the story of tech companies across nearly every industry where they have come to dominate. This is one reason that I see most tech companies as essentially a net negative for society at large, as the goal is nearly always to control a large monopoly (and this is fully admitted by many tech leaders, e.g. Thiel) which the Internet makes possible. Pre-Internet you would see the same dynamics, but usu…

I’m realizing more and more that it’s rarely technological advances that make any particular company successful and impactful. It’s more often the business acumen. Were “nerds” with coding skills really ever the best ones to be starting companies? How many successful ones were founded without leadership being handed over to “suits” pretty early on?

You need nerds to build something at a baseline competency that you can sell it, then you need to be the greasiest salesman ever to sell it harder once you've gotten a foothold.

People genuinely do not care about product quality, doubly so in the world of software (see: Crowdstrike is still in business).