How Delivery Apps Are Supporting Restaurants During Pandemic

As restaurants pivot to delivery, curbside pick-up or take-out only operations, we brought together all of the current offers coming from the top delivery platforms.

To widen your reach and be found where your guests are looking, ensure you are taking advantage of the resources these delivery partner apps are offering operators during these turbulent times. We recommend to keep a close eye on their latest and services, as additional offers are being added and extended.

DoorDash has announced the most robust plan to help operators grow their delivery presence with these key benefits:

1. Through the end of April, independent restaurants can sign up for free with DoorDash and pay zero commissions for 30 days. This is not a deferral of fees, nor will merchants be asked to pay anything back. More details can be found here.
   
2. For all existing DoorDash partners, restaurants will pay no commission fees on pickup orders and additional commission reductions may be available for eligible merchants already on DoorDash.
   
3. 100,000 independent restaurant partners are being added to the DashPass subscription program, which offers $0 delivery for consumers, for free. DoorDash is also reducing commissions for merchants already on DashPass.
   
4. Finally DoorDash states they are earmarking up to $20 million in merchant marketing programs to generate more revenue for restaurants that are already on DoorDash.
   

DoorDash has also setup an operator support page, with sample communications for customers on delivery health & safety, tools to highlight their delivery offerings, and suggestions to use the hashtag #OpenForDelivery in the social media channels.

DoorDash’s regular paid promotional tools give restaurants the opportunity to appear at the top of search results, offer guests free delivery or promote featured items.

Other Resources:  Door Dash's Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing 

Uber Eats has waived Delivery Fees for “more than 100,000 independent restaurants across US & Canada” and said they will launch “daily dedicated, targeted marketing campaigns—both in-app and via email—to promote delivery from local restaurants, especially those that are new to the app”.

Uber Eats also announced a new payment option that allows restaurants of all sizes to opt into daily payments on all Uber Eats orders. This is intended to free up daily cash flow, rather than wait for the typical weekly billing cycle.

To get started with Uber Eats operators pay a one-time activation fee that includes a welcome kit, tablet, restaurant software, and professional photo shoot. A service fee is calculated as a percentage of each restaurant order made through the app. Uber Eats offers special placements for restaurants that offer food discounts or free delivery to promote their business.

Grubhub was the first to announce on March 13^th they were “temporarily suspending collection of up to $100 million in commission payments from impacted independent restaurants nationwide.” This refers to the marketing commission fees restaurants pay to appear on the platform. Restaurants must apply and be granted the deferral; however, they are still be responsible for other fees, including delivery and order processing.

Grubhub stated fee deferrals “will end on a date to be determined by GH in its sole discretion, although GH currently anticipates that such date will be no later than March 29, 2020.”  After that, operators will revert to paying their regular commission fees, which can be anywhere between 15-30%, and will also have to pay back any deferred fees within 6 weeks. The contract also states that restaurants must stay on the Grubhub platform for at least one year.

For operators looking to grow their business with Grubhub their main promotional tools are paid ad spaces for restaurants to appear at top of search list and to be featured in promotional emails.

Postmates announced a pilot program to temporarily waive commission fees for small businesses in the SF Bay area only. Postmates regular paid promotions give restaurants the option to have coupons promoted to consumers in-app or via email.