Alexa, remember that sushi restaurant I like so much? Order a spicy tuna roll
Amazon Prime members in 20 cities can use their Echo or Echo dot to voice-order their next meal from one of the restaurants on Amazon Restaurants, but only from restaurants they’ve already ordered from, according to Chicagoinno, an online news source focused on technology news. By adding the new feature, Alexis Skills, Echo owners can verbally order a meal, hands-free, and have it delivered in less than an hour. Voice ordering is yet another maneuver by Amazon to insert itself into the food delivery space.
New break McDonald’s thinks you deserve includes ordering from home
In the late 1960s, McDonald’s slogan was “The closest thing to home.” Now the mega-fast-feeder is getting even closer to home through its delivery test with around 200 restaurants in Florida through a partnership with UberEats. According to Chicago Business, the fast-feeder will make most of its menu items available to customers in the Orlando, Tampa and Miami metro areas. McDonald’s has already tested delivery in the New York City metro area using Postmates, but the UberEats deal represents the company’s largest foray into the on-demand space, at the same time it gets closer to launching its mobile app’s online ordering feature.
Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20161215/NEWS07/161219931/mcdonalds-uber-partner-on-delivery
Fleet of grocery delivering bots invade our nation’s capital
By the end of January, autonomous food delivery bots will be veering down the streets of Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital was selected by an Estonia-based startup to host the first U.S.-based delivery bot pilot program, according to Technical.ly/DC. The startup supplying the robots is Starship Technologies, formed in 2014 by Janus Friis and Ahti Heinla, two Skype cofounders. The company has a singular aim: to revolutionize the local delivery sector, bringing the cost of delivery to $1 or less.
Read more: http://technical.ly/dc/2017/01/06/food-delivery-bots-starship/?mc_cid=56757e733c&mc_eid=726256dfe2
If FoodPanda was holding out for a Hero, it may be getting its just desserts
Berlin-based Delivery Hero, one of Europe’s biggest start-ups, is in the process of acquiring competitor Foodpanda, which Fortune magazine sees as a sign of further consolidation in the space, and a way to fend off new competition in Europe’s sought after food-delivery business.
Read more: http://fortune.com/2016/12/10/delivery-hero-buys-foodpanda/
Analyst sees appetite for Grubhub may be starting to wane
Investors gobbled up Grubhub gains in 2016, but one analyst expects their appetite to wane, reports Barrons.com. After a 55% rise last year, Grubhub shares look bloated, wrote James Cakmak of Monness, Crespi, Hardt and Co. in a research note. “The Street’s outlook doesn’t fully incorporate the degree of likely moderation across core metrics, including active diners and order frequency,” he is quoted as saying in the Barrons story. Cakmak estimated that diner growth will decline by 5 percentage points over the next two years, and that the rate of orders will flatten. Meanwhile, the company is likely to invest more on marketing and delivery, he noted. That will weigh on profitability.
Read more: http://www.barrons.com/articles/why-grubhubs-stock-could-turn-sour-1483459166
