[Simon_O_Rourke]

I second that experience - our local (high-endish) restaurant had both deliveries and take-out at the start of the pandemic, and completely wiped the floor with any crappy delivery services in our area. Then, once the pandemic finished, they stopped the deliveries and take out, and mediocre food delivery services took over again.

[BjoernKW]

Both with this particular case and from a more general perspective, I keep encountering examples where businesses and people seem all too eager to revert to their olden, pre-pandemic ways without putting any thought into if such a reversal really makes sense: "The pandemic is over. Finally, we can return to the office."

In many ways, the pandemic worked as a catalyst for changes that were long overdue anyway. Yes, these changes were all the more beneficial in that specific situation. However, that doesn't mean those changes and the huge benefits they provided beyond the immediate response to an emergency become irrelevant once that emergency is over.

For example, while dining out, with fine dining in particular, is at least as much about the experience as it is about the food and having that experience on site in a nice restaurant absolutely is preferable to just having the food delivered to your door, this doesn't have to be an either-or proposition: Why not complement your usual offering with high-end delivery and take-out?

Since at least the Black Death, pandemics have also served as an accelerator for innovation and this one certainly is no different in that regard. The least we can do is to make use of that momentum and the opportunities it provided us with in addition to all the hardship.

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste, after all.

[lozenge]

I imagine they ran the numbers. The profit is huge on alcohol. They would also see a dip in home sales as people spend more time enjoying being able to go out.