Dive Brief:
- Grubhub and Amazon Key are offering deliveries to access-restricted residential communities and buildings, the companies said Monday in an email to Restaurant Dive.
- Grubhub delivery partners can leverage Amazon Key’s one-click access technology to gain entry to common areas in Amazon Key-enabled buildings, the companies said. Amazon began piloting the program with Grubhub last year in select markets and then worked together to scale it out to their delivery partners nationwide, Amazon said.
- The companies previously expanded their partnership, allowing Amazon customers to order Grubhub restaurant delivery on Amazon’s site and shopping app and offering Amazon Prime members an ongoing Grubhub+ membership, worth $120 annually, in perpetuity.
Dive Insight:
This latest integration between Amazon and Grubhub deepens a partnership between the two companies that began in 2022. Grubhub has already completed nearly 1 million deliveries using Amazon Key and reduced delivery partner team calls by 50%, per the email. It has also seen a 22% decrease in order cancellation rates.
Grubhub delivery partners assigned to deliver to an Amazon Key-enabled building receive timed access to the common area of that building. Authorized property managers have to opt into the third-party delivery service and then have full control over Grubhub’s access to their building. Access can be revoked at any time, and property managers can review delivery partner access history on Amazon Key’s dashboard, per the email.
In an internal survey, 72% of drivers said Amazon Key provided faster access to delivery locations and over two-thirds said the overall experience was a five out of five, according to the email.
“[Drivers] are completing deliveries more efficiently and with fewer issues, which has translated to smoother experiences for our customers. The reduced need for coordination means less friction at every stage,” Megan Mergener, senior director of logistics at Grubhub, said in a statement.
Grubhub initially partnered with Amazon two years ago, offering Amazon Prime members free Grubhub+ membership for a year. Amazon received warrants of over 2% of Grubhub’s’ fully diluted common equity as part of its agreement.
Grubhub’s partnership with Amazon has been “very helpful” to the third-party aggregator, particularly the integration of Grubhub into Amazon’s website and app, Jitse Groen, parent company Just Eat Takeaway’s CEO, said during a July earnings call. Groen said the costs associated with the New York City fee cap have made it difficult to afford marketing nationwide.
“We're actually quite excited about the implementation in the Amazon product because it does provide us with a far easier way to activate these customers,” Groen said.
