The pandemic has caused many restaurants to rethink best practices for serving customers. In most areas, stay-at-home orders left indoor dining stopped in its tracks for over two months. While many areas are emerging from lockdown, social distancing guidelines significantly reduce the number of in-person customers a restaurant can serve.
The turnover reduction has sparked an increased reliance on online ordering, delivery, and pickup. To meet these needs, many restaurants look to delivery partners. In this article, we rank the top five restaurant delivery partners in the United States.
5. GrubHub
GrubHub has become one of the most popular restaurant delivery partners in 2024 because of its broad reach and customer base. Moreover, GrubHub has over 24 million active diners on the app and processes over 500,000 orders a day.
Like with other restaurant delivery services, GrubHub will require you to fill out a form. If you choose to partner with GrubHub, expect to pay the following fees on the platform:
- 4% processing and fraud protection fee
- 15 to 20% marketing fee
- 10% optional delivery fee
Seamless is also part of the GrubHub portfolio of brands. Regardless of whether you sign up on Seamless or GrubHub, you’d still get the partner perks on both services.
GrubHub came under fire during the pandemic because they waived commission fees only. However, the online delivery platform reported that it had a 12% growth from last year.
They’ve also observed health measures in place, such as providing personal protective equipment for its drivers and curbside delivery and contactless delivery services for users.
4. Delivery.com
Delivery.com is another leading delivery service available for millions of users. For Delivery.com, if you want to become a featured merchant on their app, you can sign up here.
Dataurant finds that Delivery.com receives a 15% commission from merchants, with an additional 2.75% processing fee and a $0.25 per credit transaction.
Unlike other restaurant delivery apps, Delivery.com can offer much more than just marketing and software capabilities. They also offer websites, emails, ordering, and sponsored listings.
Despite the obstacles of the pandemic, they tallied a 200% increase in orders. They even added resources on how the Payroll Protection Program works for their foodservice merchants. Plus, through Instagram, customers can order through the social media app when their merchants add their delivery.com link.
3. UberEats
UberEats is one of the best restaurant delivery partners in the US. They cover all states nationwide, and anyone can enjoy the food at any time.
If you want your franchise listed on UberEats, you’ll need to fill out an Interest Form. There, an UberEats team member will contact you if the restaurant is a good fit for your business.
According to UberEats, restaurant partners will pay a one-time activation fee. This gives them a kit, tablet, restaurant software, and photoshoot package. Plus, UberEats does charge a fee percentage of 15% for restaurants that have a team to do their deliveries. For those who don’t, UberEats will charge 30%. Restaurant partners will also pay a service fee to UberEats depending on restaurant sales.
During the pandemic, UberEats has become one of the widely used delivery services because of the restaurant offerings on the app. Forbes reported that UberEats saw a 30% surge in user sign-ups, while the app had an increase of 10% sales in March.
2. Postmates
Postmates covers deliveries for 4,200 cities and lists more than 600,000 merchants on the app, making it one of the biggest restaurant delivery services.
If you’re choosing to go with Postmates, you’ll need to create an account, and the process will take you there.
Back in 2018, Postmates restaurants were required to pay commission rates of 30% per order.
During the pandemic, Postmates wrote in their blog that deliveries would reduce contact touching. Users can opt for a delivery to their doorstep or leave the order at the door. Plus, they also offer curbside delivery as another no-contact delivery option.
1. DoorDash
The app lists more than 300,000 businesses, and DoorDash reported that they could reach over 80% of all consumers in the USA. Plus, they can deliver at an average of 37 minutes and are on-time 91% of the time.
DoorDash makes it easy for any potential merchants to sign up on the app. First, you need to describe your business or franchise and ask you to upload a menu. Once all is settled, you can finally cook for your customers, and DoorDash will deliver food to your customers’ doorsteps.
If your franchise is more on the high-end side, you can choose to list on Caviar. Previously, it was a standalone app, but DoorDash acquired the service in 2019.
As for any fees, DoorDash gets a 30% commission rate from any merchant.
During the pandemic, The Motley Fool found that DoorDash had a 72% increase in sales in March, as stay-at-home orders started. Besides, DoorDash ensured that it prepared health measures for its Dashers by providing personal protective equipment and masks. Plus, they follow a no-contact delivery scheme.
Other Restaurant Delivery Partners
Aside from the top five best restaurant delivery partners in the US, here are three alternatives worth considering. However, they cater only to select states and cities.
- Favor (only serves Texas)
- Waitr (primarily serves southern and southeastern states)
- Bite Squad (services select cities from Texas, Florida, and Hawaii, and among others)
Final Thoughts
The pandemic has proved to be a challenge for most businesses, and some have affected livelihoods. However, restaurants have remained in operation, all thanks to delivery partners. This gives restaurants more opportunities to earn extra income despite the challenges the pandemic brought. Plus, with the help of delivery apps, they can reach more diners, and users who crave their food.
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