Uber unveiled a handful of new features in June designed to make the ordering experience better for consumers. The new features include restaurant rewards, an enhanced pick-up experience through the app and priority delivery. Priority delivery, no doubt, is the biggest game changer for consumers. It allows diners to pay a “nominal fee” to put themselves at the front of the delivery line. The company didn’t state what the fee will be. Materials from the company pegged it at $1, but that will certainly be on a sliding scale as […]
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A lawsuit between Yum Brands and Grubhub shows that delivery partnerships based on big enterprise contracts can be as contentious as those at an independent single unit. In short, Yum sued Grubhub after the delivery platform raised fees and pulled out of a contract with the QSR mega-operator that owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. In a note from Grubhub to Yum that’s now an exhibit in the lawsuit, the company said Yum had “materially breached” an agreement inked in February of 2018. In that deal, Yum invested $200 […]
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Dark kitchens and virtual restaurants continue to expand across the country, but as the pendulum of food spending swings back toward grocery, a similar model is expanding rapidly there as well. While a dark grocery store sounds like nightmare fuel out of a zombie movie or something, these new “microfulfillment” centers, as described in a recent Pitchbook report examining digital grocery operations, are expanding rapidly and attracting millions in investment. The key driver has been—as are most trends in 2020—the consumer behavior shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the […]
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Coffee juggernaut Starbucks is closing up to 400 of its North American stores over the next 18 months, while simultaneously accelerating plans to open around 300 new locations focused on carryout and pickup. Embedded within its latest 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Starbucks provided an update on its closure-and-expansions plans, which were “temporarily paused” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This reflects the accelerated repositioning of a number of company-operated stores as we blend store formats and strategically optimize our portfolio primarily in U.S. urban markets as outlined […]
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Curbside pickup can resemble a modern game of telephone or a cell phone commercial with both parties essentially saying, “I’m here, can you see me?” Like many brands springing up to assist restaurants with this now-crucial ordering channel, Swipeby is looking to take manpower and uncertainty out of the arrangement to give restaurants an easier, less error-prone way to operate curbside at higher volumes. Founded by a recent college grad who spent a semester at NYU Shanghai and became enamored with the plentiful, shockingly affordable restaurant delivery options, Swipeby Founder […]
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Pret a Manger, the London-based convenience chain known for its upscale sandwiches and coffee, with a big presence along the U.S. East Coast and Chicago, is moving deeper into delivery due to high customer demand as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. After recently launching U.S. delivery service through Grubhub, Pret’s delivery sales have quickly grown to 10 percent of the brand’s overall mix. Pret a Manger U.S. President Sarah Lee said even though delivery is a lower margin channel, high customer demand for delivery “no longer makes it an option to […]
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Uber’s rumored deal to acquire Grubhub is officially off the table, with news coming late Wednesday afternoon that Just Eat Takeaway.com has agreed to combine with Grubhub in an all-stock, $7.3 billion transaction that would create the world’s largest online food delivery company outside of China.
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Some new data in the grocery space showed just how explosive the growth of grocery delivery has been and which players are gobbling up market share. The big number: $6.6 billion. That’s how much people spent on online grocery sales in May 2020 alone, according to a survey by Brick Meets Click and Mercatus. That’s up more than $1 billion and nearly 25 percent from April even as people begin to reemerge from the pandemic shelter-in-place rules. David Bishop, a partner at Brick Meets Click, which is a strategic […]
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With fewer drive-thrus than some of its prime competitors, Subway has leaned hard on a third-party delivery strategy that is helping the mega-brand—with $16.2 billion in annual systemwide sales—post weekly sales gains after a year’s worth of work to roll out and integrate the four largest third-party delivery platforms into its corporate and in-store systems. Calling the brand’s efforts to keep their stores open and respond to the pandemic a grassroots effort, Subway’s Aidan Hay, vice president of operations for North America, is one part of a refreshed leadership team […]
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The humble QR code is getting a second act in this newly touchless world, as many tech providers and restaurant brands are using the blocky square codes to send menus or discount codes right to customers’ phones without any employee contact required. One such brand is Carryout Rewards, which is a startup using flyers with QR codes to give restaurants the ability to market directly to third-party delivery customers, with the goal of converting them to in-house, native ordering channels. Dreamed up by off-road racer and social media expert Jeff […]
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