As part of a potential new series on The Enlightened Manager, Slate has published an article of mine on the effect moving to online ordering had on pizza orders.
One great thing about the Internet, of course, is that the crowd can identify things I had trouble with. For instance, in writing the article I vaguely remembered an attempt by Burger King to overcome problems of embarrassment in face-to-face ordering. Within half an hour, the same thought occurred to someone else who sent me the link to the relevant ad. The ad is from 1974 in the US so it can’t have been the one I saw but it is pretty much on point.
Digitopoly 
Joshua, I don’t recall BK offering such customization when I was a kid. That was why Wendy’s came as such a revelation to me, when my family moved to Pittsburgh in 1980, because you could custom order the toppings on anything (and thus avoid the mayonnaise, cheese and mustard that deterred me from the standard offerings everywhere else’s).
I went to Subway last week for the first time in a while, and I note that in this Subway, signage in the shop explains what details they’re going to be asked. This allows the customer to know what questions are coming and the the transaction is made a bit quicker and easier.