Grubhub Offers Restaurants New Tools For Commission-Free Ordering

Online food delivery platform Grubhub is providing restaurants with new tools for commission-free orders as the second wave of the pandemic triggers new dining room closures and capacity restrictions.

“It’s never been more important than right now for Grubhub to find and develop ways for our independent restaurant partners to serve their customers and drive online orders,” Seth Priebatsch, chief revenue officer of Grubhub, said in a company blog post on Tuesday (Dec. 8).

The Direct Order Toolkit offers three fee-free solutions to help eateries handle delivery and pickup orders placed online. The new tools will make it easier for Grubhub’s partner restaurants to use their own digital channels to process online orders.

The toolkit is part of “the hundreds of millions of dollars” Grubhub has earmarked since the pandemic began in March to help restaurants process and fill orders, according to the blog post. The new tools include a direct order link, a customizable direct order button and a unique direct order QR code.

Mobile apps and drive-thru windows have been critical to the restaurant industry, which has been among the hardest-hit sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic, with profits free-falling double digits from April to August.

Grubhub teamed up with the restaurant services platform Chowly in October to onboard mutual restaurant clients. Grubhub’s point-of-sale (POS) technology complemented Chowly’s domain services and provided owners with a streamlined process for order-taking and fulfillment.

Several states — including Washington State, New York, New Jersey and Illinois — have recently instituted fee caps that limit how much delivery apps and platforms can charge restaurants. The caps are likely temporary until the economy starts rebounding.

Recent PYMNTS data shows that 51 percent of consumers who have been ordering more food online from restaurants are likely to get a vaccine. Some 11 percent of respondents indicated that returning to restaurants is something they eagerly await.