Restaurant chains should learn from hotel chains?

Is the restaurant chain getting “Bookin-ized,” or as the English saying goes, “The fox guarding the hen house”?

In her newsletter, Kirsten Hawley explains how Pizza Hut made the business decision to eliminate first-party delivery services, resulting in the elimination of all delivery driver positions. Pizza Hut justifies the move due to ever-increasing labor costs.

If Pizza Hut can learn something from the hotel industry, it’s that, in the long run, the cost of first-party distribution is always smaller than with third-party services, especially in a world where eating at home is a constantly rising trend.

I don’t know the terms Pizza Hut negotiated with DoorDash, but if they are similar to Booking’s terms with hotels, they probably won’t acquire a lot of customer data with each order. They might end up in the same situation as hotels today, relying on a strong loyalty program to know who their customers are.