Source: Financial Times (paywall)
DoorDash and Uber Eats have inverted the traditional economics of restaurant delivery by making logistics cheap enough for independent pizzerias to compete directly with national chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut, which built their entire business models around proprietary delivery networks. Vertical integration—owning both the restaurant and delivery operation—was a competitive moat only when delivery was expensive and logistically complex. Once that infrastructure became a commodity service, it became a cost disadvantage. The same logic applies to other categories where delivery incumbents rely on captive logistics rather than superior product or unit economics.