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Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

about.grubhub.com

51–60 of 169 posts

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We say shopping at Whole Foods, Walmart, and Kroger.

Local grocery stores have basically been extinct for decades- and realistically that isn't that surprising given they mostly sell commodity products. We don't need to let restaurants suffer the same fate.

Agreed. I'm super lucky in that we have a local independent grocery in our neighborhood. Prices are definitely a little higher than the big grocery chains, but the convenience of walking 2.5 blocks is hard to beat when I need something immediately (which turns out is fairly often).

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#53
post #46

This part feels like The Onion. 30 private taxis coordinating for your meal. "customers can order from upwards of 30 restaurants in a single order, with each item being made-to-order in a sequenced fashion so that they finish simultaneously and can be delivered to the customer together."

Agree, I don't think that's going to work in practice.

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#54
post #46

This part feels like The Onion. 30 private taxis coordinating for your meal. "customers can order from upwards of 30 restaurants in a single order, with each item being made-to-order in a sequenced fashion so that they finish simultaneously and can be delivered to the customer together."

A Wonder just opened near my house, and the "different restaurants" seem to really be just different sections of a large menu with distinct branding. I.e., there is a single physical kitchen that makes food from the different "restaurants".

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#55
post #48

Ghost kitchens are the biggest scam in the food delivery world. why would anyone pay for an unsanitary kitchen to fry them up some frozen food?

Who says they're unsanitary? Are they not subject to the same kinds of health inspections that regular restaurants have to go through?

In the UK and EU they certainly are.

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#56

Ghost kitchens are the biggest scam in the food delivery world. why would anyone pay for an unsanitary kitchen to fry them up some frozen food?

My buddy ordered from a spot called "Mega Quesadilla" and was raving about it. Turns out the ghost kitchen was just an IHOP making quesadillas.

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#57
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is an empty platitude if restaurants won't meet customers where they are - on their smartphones. I'll use my local restaurants' app/webpage when there is one and get pick-up, but if there isn't one, I'll be real - I just use Doordash. When I've got people over and need to order food, it'll take 45 mins between everything else going on to figure out a restaurant, and then another hour to pick some food. And then…

[flagged]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#58
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, when you're in the business of selling a dollar for eighty cents, all the money probably got flushed down the toilet.

How were they selling a dollar for 80 cents? The actual food is more expensive on grubhub than ordering through the restaurant, and then there are multiple fees on top of that.

But there is the cost of hosting, developers, drivers, etc.

And that's all cost that is not borne by the restaurant.

And there is a limit to how much people would pay to get something delivered. So they're probably pricing the delivery, etc less than they've actually paid.

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is an empty platitude if restaurants won't meet customers where they are - on their smartphones. I'll use my local restaurants' app/webpage when there is one and get pick-up, but if there isn't one, I'll be real - I just use Doordash. When I've got people over and need to order food, it'll take 45 mins between everything else going on to figure out a restaurant, and then another hour to pick some food. And then…

Ah, but there's the catch. Resturants aren't meeting you there, Grubhub workers are. Resturaunts largely just optimize for takeout, and whether or not your food arrives warm is less of their problem and more of the Grubhub worker's issue. And as delivery drivers quit over low pay and their businesses go bankrupt, I really see no way for restaurants to support this behavior. Additionally, you have to look at it from a…

edited to be clear this is for pickup. a number of local restaurants meet me there.

Re: Wonder is acquiring Grubhub

#60
Silly money, behaving stupidly.

I feel for the restaurant owners: not only were they forced into accepting the likes of Grubhub as a middle man, that same middleman now also owns restaurants that compete directly with them. If the restaurants have any power at all they should stop using Grubhub right now. I don’t know anyone still using it (which is crazy, Seamless used to dominate NYC).

I sincerely hope the entire thing burns to the ground. The last thing I need in my life is for all the restaurants in my neighbourhood to be soulless, VC operated chains.

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