Grubhub Expands Rapid Delivery Reach Through Partnership with Buyk
On the heels of its new nationwide partnership with 7-Eleven, Grubhub is teaming up with real-time delivery service Buyk to further expand its convenience delivery offerings.
The news comes amid a period of rapid development in the arena of ultrafast delivery, with new partnerships and providers popping up seemingly every day. Buyk is a new player on the scene, having launched 15-minute delivery in New York City in September 2021 with the added perk of no minimum spend and no delivery fees.
Under the Grubhub partnership, Buyk will handle all fulfillment and delivery of orders. Customers in NYC and Chicago will be able to order from more than 30 participating local retailers through the Grubhub marketplace in the coming weeks. All told, customers will have access to 15-minute delivery for more than 2,000 grocery and convenience items from local and national vendors, as well as Buyk’s own private label products.
“We’re excited to work with Buyk and together deliver everyday essentials and grocery items even faster to our diners,” said Kyle Goings, Director of Growth and New Verticals at Grubhub in a statement. “This partnership will make the Grubhub Marketplace a one-stop shop for restaurants, convenience items and grocery supplies, building more diner loyalty and helping drive even more orders to all of our restaurant and merchant partners.”
“This partnership will make the Grubhub Marketplace a one-stop shop for restaurants, convenience items and grocery supplies, building more diner loyalty and helping drive even more orders to all of our restaurant and merchant partners,” said Grubhub Director of Growth and New Verticals Kyle Goings in the release. “We’re thrilled to add Buyk to expand the number of options and delivery speed available to our diners.”
The partnership will be available in parts of New York City and Chicago in the weeks ahead, with orders fulfilled through Buyk’s network of drivers.
“We’re excited to work with Buyk and together deliver everyday essentials and grocery items even faster to our diners,. This partnership will make the Grubhub Marketplace a one-stop shop for restaurants, convenience items and grocery supplies, building more diner loyalty and helping drive even more orders to all of our restaurant and merchant partners. We’re thrilled to add Buyk to expand the number of options and delivery speed available to our diners.”
In December, Grubhub competitor DoorDash, the leading food delivery aggregator in the United States, announced the debut of 10-minute to 15-minute grocery delivery in New York City.
Meanwhile, eGrocery giant Instacart has been promising 30-minute deliveries from a wide range of leading grocery retailers.
Buyk CEO James Walker commented in the release, “This strategic partnership goes far beyond grocery delivery, as Buyk and Grubhub will also cooperate in the areas of hyper-localized assortment and product management, food waste optimization, as well as smart routing and safety protocols to build the best experience for our couriers and our customers.”
His point about “smart routing and safety protocols” may be an inclusion made in light of recent reports of concern among New York City legislators about the safety risks of ultrafast delivery. A new bill soon to be introduced in the New York City Council would prohibit 15-minute delivery guarantees, arguing that they lead to traffic law violations, endangering drivers and pedestrians.
Grubhub’s entry into the space follows reports of the economic challenges of ultrafast grocery, with these on-demand delivery services losing as much as $20 per order on average. Additionally, restaurant delivery aggregators continue to face mounting losses, with the high labor costs of the business model making it difficult to turn a profit.
Eighteen percent of consumers now buy groceries online more often than in stores, according to data from PYMNTS’ study “Decoding Customer Affinity: The Customer Loyalty to Merchants Survey 2022,” created in collaboration with Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions. The report, which featured the results of a survey of a census-balanced panel of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, also noted that 20% of consumers said that delivery options would improve their loyalty to their grocer.
