After writing about the new deal with Cold Stone Creamery parent, Kahala Brands and DoorDash, folks in our office got a strong hankering for some ice cream. We decided to take on the hard work of putting Cold Stone’s delivery to the test to see how well it can deliver ice cream at the peak of summer. Adding a bit of pressure to the test, 11 of us piled our orders together on an especially hot Friday afternoon. With temperatures hovering around one-gazillion degrees with 5,000 percent humidity (90 degrees […]
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Delivery.com, an online marketplace allowing people to order from restaurants, liquor stores, grocery stores, as well as laundry and dry cleaning providers, announced a significant expansion of its “reach and capabilities” with the acquisition of Texas-based Mr. Delivery. With their powers combined, Delivery.com now claims 2.5 million customers, 15,000 merchants and operations in approximately 1,800 cities. “This acquisition of Mr. Delivery marks the beginning of rapid expansion efforts and initially includes food delivery operations across 160 cities, with additional companies to be onboarded in coming months,” the New York-based company […]
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Ride-hailing giant Uber is reportedly eyeing the European grocery market, with Bloomberg reporting it’s looking to start grocery delivery to compete with Deliveroo and Just Eat—the continent’s two largest third-party delivery brands. Evidence: “We’re currently speaking with a number of the major supermarkets around Europe,” an Uber spokesman said in an email to Bloomberg. While it’s likely that grocery delivery will become a larger part of the third-party delivery equation here in the U.S., the practice has already gained traction in Europe. Bloomberg’s story reports that Uber has broached a […]
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Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney is apparently fed up with negative press and how some of the brand’s competitors are behaving. He addressed both topics during the second quarter earnings call earlier this week. The Chicago-based company’s results were mixed. Grub posted a slight miss on revenue, but put up some impressive growth numbers. For more on the earnings, watch Food On Demand Editor Tom Kaiser discuss the quarter with Nicole Petallides by clicking the link below. https://tdameritradenetwork.com/video/rB4AoWwxHNuBbEQ7XYgCJg Toward the end of the call, Maloney took a moment to “set the […]
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A New York Times writer’s 27 hours as a third-party delivery courier brought some of the industry’s last-mile ugliness to the masses last week. It does not paint the industry in a kind light, and just reading it is enough to trigger anxiety, as writer Andy Newman gave a first-person account of being a courier and the hustle mindset of couriers trying to make efficient use of their time. If you were a non-tipper before reading, seeing the great lengths drivers go to for modest pay may change your mind. […]
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Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann spoke last week at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, where he dismissed rumors that the fourth-largest U.S.-based delivery brand was preparing to be sold to DoorDash, Uber or Walmart rather than pursuing a previously announced initial public offering. “I would love to take Postmates public,” he said. “It’s actually one of the great American consumer brands, … and our plan is to take it public.” Postmates is “growing twice as fast as Uber Eats and Grubhub,” he said, implying that the brand remains attractive […]
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A new survey from US Foods digs into the grievances consumers have with third-party delivery and provides some eye-popping insight into some of the less-than-ethical things couriers do on the job. The food supplier conducted a national survey of 1,500 delivery consumers for one part and 500 delivery drivers for the other. Both surveys were conducted between May 9 and May 13 of 2019. While it contains some interesting nuggets, it’s not a massive study given the millions of third-party consumers and the legions of drivers who support them. The […]
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There are plenty of reports showing national market share among U.S. delivery providers, but the industry is highly fragmented with some providers far outperforming others in the largest American cities. Grubhub has NYC on lockdown, while DoorDash leads in San Francisco, Dallas and San Antonio. Postmates is far ahead in Los Angeles, with Uber Eats eclipsing the others in Miami. These findings come from Second Measure, a Bay Area-based technology company that analyzes billions of transactions to glean intelligence in partnership with some of the largest U.S. investment firms. In […]
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Point-of-sale integration has spawned a whole industry of technology brands looking to ease operations for restaurants diving deeper into delivery with multiple providers. Vishal Agarwal, the founder and CEO of ItsaCheckmate, sees room for all the players in this space, as the focus in restaurants shifts from experimenting with delivery to going whole hog by integrating as many providers as possible—and trying to turn a profit along the way. As ItsaCheckmate builds its staff of largely remote employees, the New York-based outfit proudly proclaims its goal of working with all […]
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Starbucks announced plans to deliver directly to consumers all across the U.S. through a new partnership with Uber Eats. Starting in early 2020, the Seattle-based coffee purveyor aims to expand beyond an initial 11-city rollout that demonstrated successful “operation integration” and customer reaction. By partnering with Uber Eats, Starbucks is leveraging the expertise of the largest global delivery service outside of China while extending the potential customer base beyond those who currently hit up Starbucks on the regular. Through the agreement, the two companies will collaborate on innovation and technology […]
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