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The industry in the US is ridiculous. In a different country my friends run a newish (7 months?) cafe where they aren't on any apps. Instead you can send them a

The industry in the US is ridiculous. In a different country my friends run a newish (7 months?) cafe where they aren't on any apps. Instead you can send them a facebook message or call, and they will dispatch a shipper to you. They will then send one of their baristas who aren't busy, or if necessary they've built up a list of delivery drivers who like to hangout near their restaurant, they "sell" the food to the shipper, and then the shipper is in charge for collecting payment to compensate themselves. The restaurant loses some money because they have to pay for take out containers instead of being able to use a reusable plate, but they're not having 30% taken from them. I guess it helps that their customer base is those who probably aren't going to try to pull a fast one on the restaurant (one that caters to foreigners) but I don't think screwing over delivery people is very ingrained in the culture eitherway.

haltingproblem 6y ago
Grubless 30% does not include delivery. That is the just the ordering and payment processing.
- JCharante 6y ago
  The 30% doesn't subsidize the shipping at all? How expensive is to to upload a picture of a menu, have someone keep an eye on a cell phone for text messages, and take credit card payments if you want to go cashless. Surely the benefit of having a "verified" payment method doesn't outweigh the shrink that would be caused by having people pay on delivery or run it through Square or something. Setup a shopify or literally anything. 30% might be worth it if the only way people will discover you is if they search "pizza" into an app and you have the highest rating within the first three results, but if people are seeking out your restaurant as returning customers then you shouldn't need to pay 30% for a very expensive ad.
vinay427 6y ago
This is definitely not limited to the US, for what it's worth. The type of informal arrangement you describe seems rather undesirable if we're trying to enforce safety and labor regulations, tax collection, etc. I'm sure there are some exceptions but where I live as well as in other western European countries in which I've looked into food delivery, there were companies that operate an app-based platform, similar to in the US.
- dathinab 6y ago
  I have seen similar business model in Germany. Basically small shops doing 40-80% of their revenue by delivery but limit delivery to places reachable shortly with a scooter and min amounts of 20€ or so. This shops then have their own delivery person working part time for them and when they have many orders or orders at times where the delivery person doesn't work they order an external delivery person (and then often make very little profit with that delivery). The only difference is that you pay the company and they pay the delivery personal. Orders are mostly done per phone. And payment mostly done in cash. Through often the delivery personal has a mobile card reader, too. Through we also have US stile apps, with similar problems (but better labor laws, so at least wrt. employee abuse they tend to be slightly less terrible). (Ref: Germany, Berlin)
MattGaiser 6y ago
> shipper is in charge for collecting payment to compensate themselves. That's a deal-breaker for me as I want to pay with a credit card.

haltingproblem 6y ago

Grubless 30% does not include delivery. That is the just the ordering and payment processing.

JCharante 6y ago
The 30% doesn't subsidize the shipping at all? How expensive is to to upload a picture of a menu, have someone keep an eye on a cell phone for text messages, and take credit card payments if you want to go cashless. Surely the benefit of having a "verified" payment method doesn't outweigh the shrink that would be caused by having people pay on delivery or run it through Square or something. Setup a shopify or literally anything. 30% might be worth it if the only way people will discover you is if they search "pizza" into an app and you have the highest rating within the first three results, but if people are seeking out your restaurant as returning customers then you shouldn't need to pay 30% for a very expensive ad.

vinay427 6y ago

This is definitely not limited to the US, for what it's worth. The type of informal arrangement you describe seems rather undesirable if we're trying to enforce safety and labor regulations, tax collection, etc. I'm sure there are some exceptions but where I live as well as in other western European countries in which I've looked into food delivery, there were companies that operate an app-based platform, similar to in the US.

dathinab 6y ago
I have seen similar business model in Germany. Basically small shops doing 40-80% of their revenue by delivery but limit delivery to places reachable shortly with a scooter and min amounts of 20€ or so. This shops then have their own delivery person working part time for them and when they have many orders or orders at times where the delivery person doesn't work they order an external delivery person (and then often make very little profit with that delivery). The only difference is that you pay the company and they pay the delivery personal. Orders are mostly done per phone. And payment mostly done in cash. Through often the delivery personal has a mobile card reader, too. Through we also have US stile apps, with similar problems (but better labor laws, so at least wrt. employee abuse they tend to be slightly less terrible). (Ref: Germany, Berlin)

MattGaiser 6y ago

> shipper is in charge for collecting payment to compensate themselves. That's a deal-breaker for me as I want to pay with a credit card.