*This is content sponsored by Grubhub.
Grubhub and Just Eat Takeaway stole headlines earlier this year when they completed one of the largest mergers ever in the meal delivery sector. We sat down with Grubhub’s Liz Bosone, Senior Director, Restaurant Success, to find out what Grubhub is up to post-acquisition and what readers can expect to hear from the company at the Food on Demand Conference (FODC).
Grubhub has a new look. What is the significance of the brand change?
We joined with Just Eat Takeaway (JET) in June 2021 and it was important to bring the two brands together under cohesive branding as we embark on this exciting new chapter. Across all of our channels – from our app to web, TV, and more – users will see JET’s signature house and citrus-colored branding. The new branding naturally extends to event activations too, so when FODC attendees are looking for the Grubhub booth, they should keep their eyes peeled for orange.
What does the acquisition by Just Eat Takeaway mean for Grubhub?
There are a lot of things we’re excited about. JET brings more than two decades of experience to the table, and the acquisition unlocks a lot of new resources for Grubhub. We’re using those resources to make strategic investments in the future, including in our campaign and rewards tools, logistics engine, diner-facing experiences and branded ordering channels.
Liz Bosone, Senior Director, Restaurant Success, Grubhub
Speaking of innovation, what’s next in the food delivery industry?
It’s all about giving diners and restaurants options. We know food ordering and delivery isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and to ensure we’re providing the best experience for diners and restaurants, we’re working with our partners to build tools that will help restaurants meet diners wherever they are ordering from. On this front specifically, we launched Grubhub Direct, which allows restaurants to own the entire customer experience from end -to end — from loyalty and reward programs to customer data and insights and more.
We also believe strategic partnerships will play a significant role in driving meal delivery growth, and we’re always looking for ways to leverage our technology to bring delivery and ordering to non-traditional environments. A few recent examples of this include partnering with the Washington Football Team to enable fans to order directly from vendors at FedEx Field using the Grubhub app. This is the first time we’ve partnered with a professional sports team and we’re excited to enhance the gameday experience for fans at FedEx Field with our technology.
We’ve also partnered with Resort World Las Vegas to bring our mobile ordering technology to the resort. Guests can order from 40 different food and beverage concepts and select retail shops from the tips of their fingers on the Grubhub app, and charge the cost to their room. If you’re attending the Food on Demand Conference, definitely plan to pop by Resorts World to check it out for yourself!
College campuses are another environment we’ve done a lot of innovative work on, and just a few months ago, we partnered with Yandex to bring robot delivery to college campuses. Students can order their favorite on-campus foods from the Grubhub app and have it delivered via Yandex rover. This partnership builds on our decade of experience with campuses across the country and is just one way we’re continuing to innovate and bring cutting- edge technology to our campus partners. This delivery is currently deployed at Ohio State University, and we’re looking to launch at a few other schools this semester.
You touched on Grubhub Direct in the last question. How exactly does that work?
If the restaurant is already on Grubhub Marketplace, they could have Grubhub Direct up and running in a matter of minutes. Operators can set it up themselves through our Dashboard, or contact their Account Advisor for assistance. The font, colors, and branding of a restaurant’s Grubhub Direct site are customizable – giving restaurants control over the look and feel of the website.
Restaurants can also access their customer data within their Grubhub Direct Dashboard. Here, they can see what their customers are ordering when they are ordering it, and how often they are ordering. Restaurants don’t pay us a marketing commission for these orders since we believe they shouldn’t pay us for orders they drive. They also pay $0 in setup or monthly hosting fees.
Once the website is live, Grubhub Direct orders come into the restaurant just as an order from Grubhub Marketplace would. Restaurants can choose to handle delivery in-house or deliver through Grubhub’s drivers.
When we look at our diner data, we see a subset of customers who are passionate about ordering directly through a restaurant rather than via third-party marketplaces. The Grubhub Direct platform enables diners to do just that while giving operators a suite of marketing tools to help them directly reach diners in a more personalized manner. The loyalty component of Grubhub Direct is particularly powerful. Diners are able to unlock rewards as they order, encouraging them to keep coming back, and restaurants can use Grubhub Marketing tools to send emails to them automatically when they’re eligible for promotions or loyalty rewards.
What can readers expect from Grubhub at FODC?
We’re very excited to be back in person. We’re sponsoring FODC this year and are thrilled to be participating in several of the panels and sharing valuable information and unique insights to attendees. Kevin Kearns, our senior vice president of restaurants will be keynoting the first day of the conference and we’ll also have representation in the third-party deep dive session and lunchtime daypart panel.
Finally, we joined forces with two of our restaurant partners – El Pollo Loco and Fatburger – to offer free delivery in Vegas from November 10 – 12. If any FODC attendees need some post-show tacos or burgers, we’ve got you covered. Stop by booth 211 for the free delivery code. And remember: it’s orange now.
Want to partner with Grubhub today? Sign up here.
Interested in Grubhub Direct? Learn more here.
