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Thursday, 23 May 2013 10:25

GrubHub & Seamless Team Up To Create a Restaurant Takeout Powerhouse

Overshadowed by the news of Yahoo’s purchase of Tumblr, another big merger seems to linger under the radar. GrubHub and Seamless, two startups used for ordering restaurant takeout, have announced that after years of existing as competitors they will merge to combine forces.

This is somewhat of an atypical agreement given the other recent acquisitions of Tumblr by Yahoo and Instagram by Facebook, where one company purchased the other. So it may be different, but a merger for these two companies just seems to make sense. GrubHub is notable for making it easy to order from the mom and pop shops, while Seamless received applause for its mobile app. Each is popular within a different city and with varying audiences - college students vs. corporate - giving them separate service networks. GrubHub reported working with 20,000 restaurants and Seamless with 12,000 restaurants. When orders are added up, together the two companies place over 90,000 orders a day! Combining forces could create a powerhouse in the food ordering world, widening their reach both in cities and customers they are able to serve.

The websites are already eliminating the need for piles of take out menus and help users to discover new options in their neighborhoods. If you aren’t sure what you’re looking for, just type in your address and a list of possibilities will pop up, including reviews and popular items on the menu. This feature makes the merged company a large player when it comes to the reviews and recommendations side. While companies like Yelp have a large influence here, they lack the ability to complete the crucial last step of purchase all in the same place.

Needless to say, of all the recent mergers and acquisitions, GrubHub and Seamless seem to have great potential to be even bigger players within their service niche and we are eagerly awaiting news on the name and marketing strategy of the new entity once the merge clears!



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