Grubhub+ Doubles Down on Partnership Strategy With 2-Year Amazon Extension

Nearly a year after Grubhub first announced its partnership with Amazon to offer Prime members free yearlong Grubhub+ subscriptions, the aggregator shared Monday (June 5) that the two companies are extending the deal and stepping it up by offering two years — a testament to Grubhub’s commitment to its partnerships strategy.

The aggregator announced in a news release that Prime members who have already redeemed the offer can get an additional year, while those just signing up between now and July 6, the anniversary of the launch of the partnership, will receive two free years from the jump, after which point they will once again only receive yearlong subscriptions.

“Prime members are loving Grubhub+ and using it to get even more delivered to their door from their favorite restaurants through Grubhub,” Ariella Kurshan, the aggregator’s senior vice president of growth and marketing, said in a statement. “With unique experiences like ‘Tune In and Takeout’ [themed food promotions with Prime Video content] that complement our core Grubhub+ offer and showcase what Grubhub and Amazon do best, we’re incredibly energized by the possibilities from our continued collaboration.”

The news comes as Grubhub aims to drive adoption of its marketplace by partnering with businesses with wide audiences to offer free delivery subscriptions, incentivizing consumers who might otherwise be put off by the cost of delivery to use the service. Last summer, in addition to the Amazon partnership, the aggregator announced it was offering free yearlong subscriptions to Bank of America cardholders.

As Grubhub doubles down on its partnership strategy, competitor DoorDash, the most popular aggregator in the United States, is taking a different tack.

As Chief Financial Officer Prabir Adarkar told analysts earlier this year, the DashPass program’s growth has “not been partnership-driven as some of our competitors might be.” Rather, it has come from the aggregator’s own channels and through its “traditional performance marketing channels.”

DoorDash announced last week a five-week DashPass promotion, Summer of Dashpass, with daily deals for members on restaurant and convenience items, including discounts, buy-one-get-one deals and freebies as well as a range of sweepstakes.

“For the fourth year in a row, we’re excited to bring Summer of DashPass to our members, underscoring the value and breadth of a DashPass membership and unlocking access to the best of their neighborhoods at the most affordable prices,” Adarkar said in a statement. “This summer, we’re bringing even more value to our members on everything from groceries to throwback, beloved menu items, to sporting goods, to fun sweepstakes and much more.”

Financial incentives such as Grubhub’s free membership deals and DoorDash’s limited-time offers can go a long way toward driving cost-sensitive consumers’ adoption. Research from PYMNTS’ study “Connected Dining: Third-Party Restaurant Aggregators Keep the Young and Affluent Engaged,” revealed that adoption rose between April 2022 and February 2023 from 37% of consumers who used a restaurant aggregator in the prior six months to 40%. Plus, four in 10 diners said they are using aggregators because the discounts have gotten better.