{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T09:09:20Z","timestamp":1778663360478,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["M&amp;SOM"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Problem definition: Mobile technologies have increasingly enabled remote customers to order ahead at quick-service restaurants. As customers travel to the service facility to pick up their orders, their orders also advance in the food preparation queue. It is widely believed that the ability to order ahead reduces customers\u2019 total delay and, therefore, allows restaurants to attract more orders and achieve higher throughput than if customers must order onsite. Methodology\/results: We build a queueing game\u2013theoretic model to study a mixed ordering scheme in which some customers order ahead and some order on-site. Our analysis shows that the common practice of accepting all orders as they come in and requiring all orders to be irrevocable can cause a mixed ordering scheme to surprisingly achieve lower throughput than an on-site\u2013only ordering scheme. The throughput shortfall can persist even when the service provider freely chooses whether to share queue-length information with remote customers. However, if remote customers who order ahead are allowed to cancel unprepared orders when they arrive at the service facility, then such a mixed ordering scheme with cancellation achieves higher throughput than the on-site\u2013only ordering scheme even though it does not uniformly dominate the original mixed ordering scheme (without cancellations). We then study a capped ordering scheme in which the service provider stops accepting new remote orders if the number of outstanding orders reaches a certain threshold. When the service provider optimally sets the cap, the mixed\u2013capped ordering scheme outperforms both the mixed ordering scheme without capping and the on-site\u2013only ordering scheme in throughput but not necessarily the cancellation scheme. Finally, we propose an optimal mechanism in which the service provider determines both the capping and cancellation thresholds subject to customers\u2019 individual rationality constraints. Managerial implications: Our paper highlights the unintended consequences of ordering ahead and provides prescriptive guidance for managing such a service system.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Funding: The work of K. Sun was supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, China [Grant 9244031].<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/msom.2024.0865 .<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.2024.0865","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T13:59:48Z","timestamp":1771423188000},"page":"742-761","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Order Ahead for Pickup: Promise or Peril?"],"prefix":"10.1287","volume":"28","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2095-929X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ke","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G5, Canada; and College of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Ko\u00e7 University, Istanbul 34450, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9961-2610","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yunan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Supply Chain Optimization Technology, Amazon, New York, New York 10001; and Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5370-6926","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luyi","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"109","reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.2017.1638"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2022.4416"},{"key":"B3","unstructured":"Business Research Insights (2024) Online food ordering market size, share, growth, and industry analysis regional forecast by 2031. Accessed February 6, 2026, https:\/\/www.businessresearchinsights.com\/market-reports\/online-food-ordering-market-102644."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/07408170490438690"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2021.4245"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2018.3212"},{"key":"B7","unstructured":"Dean G (2021) Former Starbucks workers say the chain\u2019s mobile ordering is out of control.\n                      Business Insider Online\n                      (June 26), https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/starbucks-mobile-ordering-app-barista-pandemic-coffee-customers-online-digital-2021-6."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.2021.2203"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2022.4390"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2017.2787"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/1912327"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1201\/b20014"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0167-6377(94)00049-C"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hassin R, Haviv M (2003)\n                      To Queue or Not to Queue: Equilibrium Behavior in Queueing System\n                      s, vol. 59 (Springer Science & Business Media, New York).","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4615-0359-0"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.2020.0909"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1010908330518"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jian N, Henderson SG (2015) An introduction to simulation optimization. Yilmaz L, Chan WKV, Moon I, Roeder TMK, Macal C, Rossetti MD, eds.\n                      Proc. 2015 Winter Simulation Conf.\n                      (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ), 1780\u20131794.","DOI":"10.1109\/WSC.2015.7408295"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Macal C, North M (2014) Introductory tutorial: Agent-based modeling and simulation. Tolk A, Diallo SY, Ryzhov IO, Yilmaz L, Buckley S, Miller JA, eds.\n                      Proc. 2014 Winter Simulation Conf.\n                      (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ), 6\u201320.","DOI":"10.1109\/WSC.2014.7019874"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/1909200"},{"key":"B20","unstructured":"Peet\u2019s Coffee (2019) Can I cancel my mobile order after it\u2019s been placed? Accessed February 6, 2026, https:\/\/faq.peets.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/360025049112-Can-I-cancel-my-mobile-order-after-it-s-been-placed-"},{"key":"B21","unstructured":"Pucci R (2017) Mobile order and pay ahead: A new sales channel for restaurants and merchants. Mercator Advisory Group. Accessed February 6, 2026, https:\/\/www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com\/Press_Releases\/Mobile_Order_and_Pay_Ahead__a_New_Sales_Channel__Increases_Volume_for_Restaurants_and_Merchants\/."},{"key":"B22","unstructured":"Starbucks (2017) When will my mobile order be ready? Accessed February 6, 2026, https:\/\/customerservice.starbucks.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/3041."},{"key":"B23","unstructured":"Subway (2020) Subway\u00ae website ordering and mobile app terms of use\u2014USA only. Accessed February 6, 2026, https:\/\/www.subway.com\/en-us\/legal\/order_apptermsofuse."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.2017.0678"}],"container-title":["Manufacturing &amp; Service Operations Management"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1287\/msom.2024.0865","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T08:15:24Z","timestamp":1778660124000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/10.1287\/msom.2024.0865"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1287\/msom.2024.0865"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/msom.2024.0865","relation":{},"ISSN":["1523-4614","1526-5498"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1523-4614","type":"print"},{"value":"1526-5498","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}}}