Yelp’s New Curbside Service With A Smile

Convenience is the name of the game if you’re a retailer that wants to provide a seamless and quality customer experience for target audiences.

With that strategy in mind, same-day shopping brick-and-mortar service Curbside announced news of its partnership with Yelp, a move which is likely to help convert sales at a faster rate. As of this week, Curbside users can search for businesses on Yelp, make an online order through mobile order-ahead and pick it up at the store at the curb without leaving the car. Through this partnership, anyone looking to expedite their shopping or restaurant ordering can now do so through Yelp.

While CVS rolled out its CVS Express through Curbside’s service last year, many other retailers have joined up with the same-day shopping company, including quick-service restaurant (QSR) Pizza Hut and retailer Sephora. Through Curbside’s integrated inventory feed, there may never be a reason again to step foot outside a car to pick something up from a store or restaurant.

In the coming months, Curbside is working to add several additional QSRs, like Pizza Hut, to up its food service and mobile order-ahead game. This news follows Yelp’s announcement this August to sell its food delivery service Eat24 to GrubHub for a cool $287.5 million.

Yelp’s Director of Business Development, Peter Curzon, commented on the company’s decision to partner up with Curbside rather than retain an in-house staff to do a similar order pickup offering. “Yelp doesn’t need to be in the business of delivery and logistics,’ said Curzon. “Instead, we can work with great partners who specialize in fulfillment. We plan to continue adding new partners and products in the future, including platform partnerships such as Curbside.”

Through this new pair-up, Curbside has effectively upped its game by raising its profile for Yelp users who may not be familiar with the company. By widening its presence this way, Curbside may be setting itself up for larger investments and partnerships down the road.