Grubhub today announced the launch of Grubhub+, the food delivery service’s answer to a subscription service that offers members more rewards and free delivery on many orders, according to a company press release.
A $9.99/month membership to Grubhub+ includes free unlimited delivery from restaurants participating in the new subscription service. (Grubhub hasn’t named specific ones yet.) A subscription also gets you unlimited 10 percent cashback deals, priority assistance when dealing with customer service, and dibs on exclusive perks and access to local events.
Grubhub+ is the company’s latest effort to win customers over with more rewards. Last year, the company launched the in-app feature Perks, which offers users more ways to earn loyalty points from restaurants via deals only available in the Grubhub app.
Right now, anyone can sign up for a free 14-day trial of Grubhub+. And in what’s also a bid for customer loyalty — something of an elusive concept for third-party food delivery right now — Grubhub is also offering an extended 30-day trial to “diners participating in any other food delivery subscription program.” DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Postmates all offer subscription services. DoorDash even partnered with Chase bank recently to give certain cardholders subscriptions to the service, giving it access to a potentially even large pool of subscribers.
There is no guarantee any of this will ensure customer loyalty for any third-party delivery service. Customers tend to chase deals, hopping from app to app in search of promotions, giveaways, and discount items. On that point, Grubhub isn’t slacking, as it grew its network of restaurants to 300,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Some of those additions were controversial, though. Earlier this month, the company received widespread criticism for its practice of adding restaurants to its platform that have no formal agreement with the service. (DoorDash and Postmates do the same thing.) And that’s only one controversy of many the service has been at the center of in the last 12 months. So Grubhub might be doing all it can to have the most restaurants in the network, but it’s pissing owners and customers off in the process, which won’t exactly build loyalty.
But, as I said above, customers tend to chase deals, and if Grubhub can offer a better subscription package than its competitors, it could win more loyalty despite its many current controversies, present and future.
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