Fast-food restaurants push into delivery
On the same day McDonald’s said it would begin testing delivery in New York, an order placed for two cheeseburgers, two large fries and a vanilla shake took about a half-hour to arrive at The Associated Press headquarters.
The whipped cream on the shake was a little melted, and an order of apple slices was missing. But the burgers and fries were warm.
The bill came to $23.32, including tip — nearly double the cost if a reporter had walked around the corner to the nearest McDonald’s to pick up the food.
The world’s biggest burger chain said Monday that it was starting the test and teaming up with Postmates, a service that is also working with Chipotle and Starbucks. It’s the latest sign that fast-food chains are eager to figure out ways to feed customer demands for greater convenience.
Already, Burger King has offered delivery in select regions since 2012. Others are experimenting with quicker takeout: Taco Bell lets customers order and pay in advance on its mobile app, and Starbucks said it plans to offer mobile pay-ahead later this year.
For fast-food chains, working with Postmates is a way to move into delivery by tapping into an existing network. Postmates compares itself to the car service Uber, and says it has a “fleet” of 10,000 delivery people who work as independent contractors.
Its partnership with fast-food companies is a bit odd, since Postmates offers delivery from a wide array of restaurants. That means people could already get some McDonald’s, Starbucks and other food delivered in the two dozen major metropolitan areas where Postmates operates.
By officially linking up with Postmates, however, companies can exert greater control over the process, said Holger Luedorf, head of business development at Postmates.
With Chipotle, for instance, the delivery fee is capped at $7.99 and the chain’s menu is optimized for the Postmates app. Chipotle says delivery is available wherever Postmates operates. And Starbucks is integrating Postmates into its app as part of its delivery rollout in Seattle later this year. The coffee chain said there will be a flat delivery fee, which hasn’t yet been disclosed.