Dive Brief:

• Grubhub is adding new features to its Grubhub+ loyalty subscription program, according to a press release published by the company on Tuesday. 
• New benefits include lower service fees and a 5% credit on pickup orders. The program’s core benefit, $0 delivery fees on qualifying orders over $12, remains unchanged.
• Grubhub will add new features in the coming months, including a linkup with Shell that will enroll Grubhub+ members as Gold Status members in Shell’s Fuel Rewards Program, the company said in a statement emailed to Restaurant Dive.

Dive Insight:

These additions could help Grubhub chip away at the lead its competitors, Uber Eats and DoorDash, hold in delivery market share. As of June 2023, Grubhub is in a distant third in the delivery wars, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. Grubhub holds about 10% of the U.S. market compared to DoorDash (65%) and Uber Eats and Postmates (25% combined).

Grubhub’s markets hare has steadily eroded over the last few years, and rumors are swirling that parent company Just Eat Takeaway is looking to sell the company. Former Grubhub CEO Adam DeWitt, who worked at the company for 11 years, also departed in March.

To counteract this erosion, Grubhub has employed to a variety of stratagies, including a partnership with Transact Campus to strengthen Grubhub’s presence on college campuses. Grubhub+ has been key to the delivery aggregator’s efforts to draw new customers. In 2022, Grubhub and Amazon began offering one year of free Grubhub+ to Amazon Prime members, and the deal was extended in 2023. Grubhub also signed a deal in June to offer delivery at several hundred Homewood Suites by Hilton.

The new benefits are motivated by customer feedback, according to Launika Raykar, vice president of loyalty, customer engagement and partnerships at Grubhub. According to the press release, the new benefits could ultimately yield a monthly average savings of 20% for some customers. 

"We continually gather feedback from our diners, and they've told us they want more value, recognition and elevated service from their subscription programs,” Raykar said. “Reinforcing our commitment to addressing diner feedback in all facets of our business, we took the best features from the original Grubhub+ program and our previous pilot programs to drive measurable value.”

Grubhub is also searching for ways to economize on delivery, including through deals with robotic delivery companies like Kiwibot. The new pickup order credit could help Grubhub’s costs marginally by shifting consumers away from delivery orders, which come with significant labor costs for aggregators. In June 2022, while it was struggling to attract and retain delivery drivers, Domino’s tried a version of this strategy, offering a $3 credit to diners who “self-delivered,” meaning picked up, their orders.