Amazon Doubles Down on Grubhub Partnership
Fetch turns to Branch for payments, Amazon drones' BVLOS approval, debit preferences
We’re ending the week with a double whammy of big Amazon news, as the ecommerce heavy buys up a bit more Grubhub while also advancing its aerial ambitions. We’ve also got news from Fetch and Branch, plus some new payment preference data.
Today:
Amazon Makes Grubhub Perks Permanent
Amazon Finally Scores BVLOS Approval
Chart Time | Cash or Credit? Neither!
Branch Powering Fetch’s Payment & Loyalty Tools
PARTNERSHIPS | Amazon Deepens Grubhub Integration
Amazon Prime members will now get Grubhub+ for free, on an ongoing basis. This builds off of a 2022 partnership that initially offered the 3PD’s free delivery-oriented premium service — nominally valued at $120/yr — but at the time was only good for one year. The transaction isn’t just a money saver for consumers, but it looks to be a way to slowly save Grubhub parent co Just Eat Takeaway.com’s balance sheet as well: as part of the deal, Amazon has to date received warrants representing 4% of Grubhub, with another 4% set to vest as part of this updated deal, and a further 10% may vest if certain performance conditions are met.
The Big Picture: Grubhub and Amazon’s previous partnership was reportedly the most successful third-party perk Amazon has given Prime members, despite the fact that Grubhub CEO Howard Migdal notes “awareness of the partnership versus the rest of the Amazon Prime universe is incredibly low.” With that said, color us less impressed with how this integration works. While the two brands have tooted their horns that you can now shop for Grubhub in the Amazon app, in reality all it does is open a new WebKit browser window inside of Amazon’s app, with paltry little data integrated between the two sites. Heck you can even try it yourself without firing up your iPhone: https://amazon-ios.grubhub.com/lets-eat So much for getting that pad thai delivered with one click…
AUTONOMY | Amazon Drones Receive BVLOS Approval
Amazon’s drone delivery initiative secured a critical FAA approval, allowing them to fly beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of a human observer. The drones’ onboard detect-and-avoid tech will let them start to actually make deliveries miles away from Amazon’s pilot hubs in Texas and Arizona, and will go into effect with the company’s current MK-27 drone model, while the ecommerce giant continues building out its next-gen MK-30 birds.
The Big Picture: Despite its vast resources, Amazon Prime Air has been slow to take off compared to the competition. Not only did well-funded competitors like Zipline and Alphabet-backed Wing secure that same BVLOS approval months ago, so too did scrappier upstarts like Flytrex and DroneUp. And all those flyboys have also completed orders of magnitude more deliveries, with Zipline having recently hit the big one million milestone. Check out these recent videos showcasing Wing’s progress working with Walmart.
CHART TIME | Grocery Shoppers Like Debit Cards
New data from PYMNTS shows the payment preference of various consumer cohorts, and it looks like cash ain’t king, nor is credit… debit reigns supreme! While the difference is starkest for grocery purchases, it also looks to win out for other types of retail transactions.
PAYMENTS | Fetch Me That Branch!
Offsite package management solution startup Fetch is turning to Branch, as it looks to offer same-day payments and loyalty perks to its army of delivery workers. These sorts of payment tools are becoming ever more important in the delivery and mobility economy, with Branch noting that 75% of customers use their platform for 2 or more payout solutions, 40% of workers switch to Branch as their primary banking account and among clients in high-turnover industries, workers with access to instant pay solutions stay 60% longer.
The Big Picture: Fetch is an interesting player in the delivery market, essentially allowing apartment complexes to outsource and off-site their package rooms, while adding convenience to residents by letting them get granular with when they want their final delivery. Last year, Fetch handled over 11 million deliveries for 383k apartment units nationwide.
A Few Good Links
Deliveroo launches “Plus Month of More” — its Grubhub Gold Days-style member savings month. Gopuff revamps private label offerings, note 20% order penetration rate. Parts Town offers same day delivery with UPS’ Roadie. Ex Tesla Exec joins battery startup TeraWatt. Walmart expands in-home delivery to Philly, Boston, Detroit, MPLS and San Berdoo. Are QR menus finally dying? (Fingers crossed!) TikTok shop punts on Euro launch. Walmart+ Week set for June 17-23. Shared scooter regulation primer. Feds ask AVer Zoox for hard braking data. Stripe pulls back in India. Worst cities for pedestrians. Archer, Kakao Mobility hope to bring airtaxis to S. Korea. Amazon Fresh ends grocery delivery in five UK cities.
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