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GrubHub+ gets you free deliveries and cashback for $10 a month
GrubHub is launching a new subscription service. Starting today, you can pay $10 per month to get access to GrubHub+. Its main perks include unlimited free delivery and 10 percent cash back on orders. Additionally, if you donate through the company's Donate the Change program, it will match your contribution. It also promises priority support and "exclusive" access to in-app perks.
Tipping point: The gig economy hits delivery drivers in their wallets
Tipping is ubiquitous to the American service industry with consumers encouraged to give "a little something extra" to their waiters, bartenders, and baristas, dry cleaners, dog-walkers and delivery drivers. But it wasn't always like this. The practice of tipping started in England and made its way to our shores at the turn of the 18th century where it met strident social opposition. Deemed the "vilest of imported vices" by an 1899 NYT op-ed, anti-tipping sentiment reached its peak in 1915 when six states outlawed the practice outright. Since then, tipping has grown into the status quo, so much so that restaurants are allowed to pay their tipped staff less than the federal minimum wage and nobody even bats an eye, though the practice is once again falling out of favor -- this time at the hands of the gig economy.
Panera Bread now delivers through DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats
Panera Bread can't resist the siren's call of offering food through third-party delivery apps. The restaurant chain has made its delivery service available outside of its own apps for the first time, offering its menu through DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats. Don't expect to see someone from those services at your door, though. Panera's own couriers will fulfill orders in "most markets," so you could still see familiar faces if you're used to having your Toasted Frontega Chicken sandwiches delivered.
GrubHub is quietly replacing restaurant phone numbers on Yelp
GrubHub has once again been accused of hijacking restaurants' online presences in the name of revenue. Motherboard and the Underunderstood podcast have learned that some phone listings in the Yelp app have been replaced with GrubHub numbers so that the delivery service can collect a "referral fee" from resulting orders. You may get the restaurant's actual phone number if you tap the call button for "general questions," for instance, but an entirely different GrubHub-owned number if you tap "delivery or takeout."
Grubhub and Seamless will deliver Shake Shack across the US
Sometime soon, you won't necessarily need to wait until the buzzer in your hand goes off to know when your food is ready at Shake Shack. The popular burger chain is teaming up with Grubhub for nationwide delivery across the US.
DoorDash buys food delivery app Caviar from Square
The food delivery world is getting smaller. DoorDash has agreed to buy rival food delivery platform Caviar from Square for a total of $410 million in cash and stock. Square CEO Jack Dorsey said during a second-quarter earnings call today that the move would allow the company to focus on its core money delivery business.
OpenTable now offers delivery with help from Uber Eats and Grubhub
As of today, you can use OpenTable's updated iOS app to book dinner reservations or have your food delivered. OpenTable announced that it's partnering with Uber Eats, Caviar and Grubhub to offer meal delivery from over 8,000 restaurants in 90 cities across the US.
GrubHub is buying web domains for the restaurants it lists (updated)
GrubHub's bid to conquer app-based food delivery may be hurting the web presences of the restaurants themselves. New Food Economy has discovered that GrubHub and its Seamless sub-brand have been acquiring "thousands" of web domains linked to restaurants, over 23,000 of which belong directly to GrubHub. Most of them are close or identical to the eateries' actual names, effectively preventing the locations from buying an address they might want to use.
Grubhub is delivering Dunkin' donuts in New York City
If you're craving donuts but can't step outside to get them, some extra relief might be at hand. Grubhub is rolling out the option to order from Dunkin' through its apps, starting with Seamless customers in New York City. It'll reach other markets in the months ahead, including Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. Deliveries will be free between June 24th and June 30th to sweeten the deal (beyond the sugar in your orders, that is) for early adopters.
GrubHub now delivers Taco Bell to couch potatoes nationwide
For those whose food cravings can only be sated by Taco Bell's "unique" brand of "Mexican" dishes, we have some good news: the chain is now offering delivery across the US through a partnership with GrubHub. Taco Bell has dabbled in delivery before, in collaboration with DoorDash, but today's partnership will greatly expand that delivery area -- basically, if you live near a Taco Bell, you can get food delivered. Not all restaurants are participating, but it sounds like it shouldn't be hard to find one.
GrubHub and Yelp now offer delivery from over 80,000 restaurants
To combat rival services DoorDash and UberEats, Grubhub is expanding its partnership with Yelp to deliver meals from over 80,000 US restaurants on the food listing company's site and app. This finalizes GrubHub's $288 million acquisition of Yelp's Eat24 directory that it began last fall. In exchange, Yelp will get an undisclosed cut of every GrubHub order made through its service.
TripAdvisor adds GrubHub food delivery to its travel tools
GrubHub makes it pretty easy to scrounge up food when you don't feel like picking it up yourself, and now the food-delivery company wants to extend that to how you eat when traveling. Travel site TripAdvisor has announced that starting today, when you're planning your next vacation and mulling options for dining and entertainment in some 1,100 cities, GrubHub's network of restaurants will be in the mix. The companies say that if you see the "order online" button next to a listing, clicking it will redirect to GrubHub's website.
Food delivery apps face lawsuits over employee benefits
The fight over employee benefits when it comes to app-based on-demand services continues. The Chicago Tribune reports that food delivery companies GrubHub, DoorDash and Caviar were all hit with separate lawsuits in San Francisco this week. The suits allege that each failed to offer employee benefits after treating them like full-time workers. In other words, the companies misclassified employees as contractors. If that sounds familiar it's because Uber facing a similar lawsuit in San Francisco over its drivers. In fact, the same attorney that represents plaintiffs in proceedings with Uber and Lyft is working with the delivery drivers in these three new cases. Like Uber, the suits against GrubHub and DoorDash are class actions while the demand arbitration request with Caviar is on behalf of a single driver. Based on the filings, GrubHub allegedly treated its workers as employees but failing to offer proper benefits like reimbursements for gas, parking and phone data. It also allegedly failed to meet wage requirements and offer overtime pay. [Image credit: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Google finds a way to make ordering delivery food even lazier
You know the delivery drill. When you're feeling peckish, the first thing you do is search for open restaurants in your area, but then you have to close search, open a separate food delivery app, find the restaurant again there, and finally place your order. That's a lot of work just to order a pizza (but clearly still not enough to make you pick up the phone). Google, however, has announced an easier, more integrated means of ordering your next meal. According to the official Google Blog, the search engine now recognizes when you're looking for something to eat and will offer a "Place an order" option within the search results. Click on that and Google Search will prompt you to select one of six applicable delivery apps -- Seamless, Grubhub, Eat24, Delivery.com, BeyondMenu and MyPizza.com -- which immediately launches and loads the restaurant's menu for your perusal. Sure, you'll still have to wait 45 minutes for your food to actually get there, but at least this new system saves a couple of clicks.
Amazon launches a restaurant takeout and delivery service
Amazon's already shown that it's intent on replacing your grocery store, with same-day deliveries and its Dash scanner, but now it wants to help at those times when you don't want to be in the kitchen. As part of its latest Amazon Local expansion, the internet retailer has launched a new Takeout & Delivery service, allowing customers to browse available local restaurants and order a freshly-cooked meal for pickup or have it delivered to their door. If you've used Grubhub or Seamless (before they merged) then you know the drill.
Forget check-ins: Foursquare now lets you order in from local restaurants
It's easy to think of Foursquare as an app you use on the go: it's what you use to check in places, get a mayor's crown, let your friends know you're about to eat a taco. That sort of thing. Now, though, Foursquare is teaming up with GrubHub Seamless, allowing you to order delivery from local restaurants -- without ever actually setting foot there or checking in. (Foursquare already lets you check into restaurants after you order on Delivery.com, but that's not quite the same thing.) All told, the screenshot above explains it all: if you're browsing Foursquare for local eateries and find one with either the GrubHub or Seamless icon, just hit "order delivery" and you'll be redirected to the GrubHub or Seamless website (depending on which of the two delivery services the restaurant uses). You can try it out today on iOS, Android or Foursquare's web app. As for all you Microsoft fans, it's unclear when or if the Windows 8 app will be updated to support this -- not that anything can stand between you and a good burrito.
Seamless and GrubHub are merging to form a giant food delivery service
Seamless and GrubHub, two of the biggest food delivery services in the US, have just announced they'll be merging into a combined company, with the name of the new operation to be decided at a later date. (SeamHub? Grubless?) Unlike some other transactions we cover around here, this does seem to be a merger in the truest sense of the word, with GrubHub founder Matt Maloney stepping up to the role of chief executive officer and Seamless CEO Jonathan Zabusky staying on as president. Though we don't yet know what the new service will be called, the companies are already saying it will serve 500-plus US cities, with more than 20,000 restaurants taking orders. Also, as hinted in that press release below, the merger will give the new mega-company more financial flexibility when it comes to further growth opportunities. Next up: Delivery.com?
