题　目：Dine-in or Food Delivery? A Dilemma of Service Priority

嘉　宾：王钟彬，副教授，天津大学管理与经济学部

主持人：孙海龙 助理教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2023年12月4日（周一）14:00-15:30pm

地　点：安泰经济与管理学院A403

内容简介：

Problem definition: In recent years, third-party on-demand food delivery (OFD) platforms have enabled traditional restaurants to expand demand. The OFD service is embraced by numerous patrons owing to its ability to diminish concerns regarding time sensitivity as opposed to in-person dining. Nevertheless, OFD unavoidably diminishes the dining experience quality due to the challenges of long-distance delivery. This factor significantly influences customer channel preferences and, subsequently, restaurant earnings. Surprisingly, this aspect has received scant attention in prior OFD literature. This paper aims to investigate the impact of OFD quality on the effectiveness of three common service policies in restaurant operation: (1) first-come-first-serve (FCFS) policy, (2) PI policy that prioritizes dine-in customers, and (3) PO policy that prioritizes OFD customers. Methodology/results: We establish a service system susceptible to congestion, in which a revenue-maximizing restaurant caters to customers via both dine-in and OFD channels. Findings reveal that the introduction of OFD consistently amplifies overall sales, termed the demand expansion effect. However, it also triggers a migration of dine-in patrons toward the lower-margin OFD channel, known as the cannibalization effect. As a result, the incorporation of OFD is recommended primarily when its quality is moderate. In particular, with the enhancement of OFD quality, it is advisable for the restaurant to adopt the PO policy, FCFS policy and PI policy sequentially. Furthermore, we uncover the contrasting effects of two distinct channel-based service policies within the dual-channel system. Finally, we propose an innovative service mechanism, allowing restaurants to flexibly assign priority between the two channels, to maximize operational revenue. Notably, this service design significantly challenges the effectiveness of the widely used service policy, whereas a threshold is identified below (beyond) which a partial priority should be assigned to OFD (dine-in) customers. Such partial priority is demonstrated to outperform all three common service policies when the OFD quality is moderate. Managerial implications: Our pivotal insight provides guidance to restaurants on how to strategically assign priority according to the OFD quality, such that working with third-party OFD platforms becomes a strength rather than a threat.

演讲人简介：

王钟彬，天津大学管理与经济学部英才副教授，获国家级青年人才称号。主要研究方向为随机服务运营，排队经济学。主持国家自然科学基金2项，中国科协青年人才托举工程项目1项。以第一作者或通讯作者在运营管理类国际顶尖期刊OR, MS, MSOM, POM等发表多篇学术论文。相关学术成果曾获2022年“全国供应链与运营管理”最佳会议论文一等奖，2021年美国运筹学与管理学研究协会(INFORMS)服务科学最佳论文一等奖。

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