Food delivery services may have been growing in popularity for many years now, but the pandemic really solidified these platforms as integral to a restaurant’s success. Being able to offer customers convenient food ordering options and the ability to enjoy their favorite restaurants from their own homes became vital, and now customers expect it. Luckily, a variety of food delivery apps have sent the delivery business soaring and offered restaurants another stream of revenue.
The Grubhub app proved to be particularly popular with consumers, but it isn’t necessarily the right choice for every restaurant. Grubhub has a larger footprint than other delivery apps, but it’s not yet available in every city. Additionally, issues like high delivery fees and potential difficulties in navigating the app may cause customers to avoid using Grubhub.
If you want to establish a food delivery service for your restaurant — or switch to a new one — you have multiple options to choose from.
Top Grubhub alternatives
These food delivery apps are already well-established services and are practical alternatives to Grubhub.
1. DoorDash
DoorDash offers restaurant pickup and delivery, plus convenient online ordering. As orders come into your restaurant, you confirm them on your point-of-sale (POS) system and package them for delivery or customer pickup.
DoorDash offers live chat, email, and phone support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year.
This platform is a flexible option. You can partner with DoorDash Drive, which is a white-label delivery service that could work for you if you already have your own online ordering system. Dashers will deliver the orders that you receive through your own system.
And if you have your own drivers, then consider DoorDash’s self-delivery option, which lets you use the platform to accept orders but take care of your deliveries with your own drivers or a mix of your drivers and their Dashers.
2. ChowNow
With ChowNow, you can give your diners flexible options. ChowNow integrates with more than 30 different POS processors, so you can easily accept orders through Square, Toast, Clover, POSitouch, Brink POS, and more. From there, you can set delivery options, your zones and hours, and how your customers will pay for their deliveries.
Options like the Order Better Network and ChowNow Marketplace can expose your business to new audiences, helping you drive sales.
3. Jotform
Your restaurant can also use Jotform as a food delivery alternative. Jotform’s food delivery app builder makes it easy to build a mobile app for your to-go, curbside pickup, and delivery order options. The app builder is free to use, and with your completed app, you’ll be able to collect payments and gather customer and order info from your restaurant computers, tablets, and smartphones.
The app already features templates for a food delivery app, catering app, and order-ahead app to help you get started. The templates are fully customizable, so you can add your restaurant’s logo, branding colors, and menu. The templates are easy to use and customize, thanks to Jotform’s drag-and-drop interface, so you can easily create your own online ordering system.
4. Uber Eats
Uber Eats offers a flexible platform that lets you use your own delivery people if you choose. Its in-app marketing means you can expand your customer base and drive sales. That marketing is backed up by data-driven insights, so you can evaluate and improve on your marketing and sales.
Partnering with Uber Eats means you can potentially reach the app’s users in your area, which may drive sales. Customers can find your restaurant through the app, you’ll prepare the order, and delivery people (either your own or those you connect with through Uber Eats) will take the order to the customer.
Enrolling with Uber Eats is fast. In many cases, you can start accepting orders in just days.
5. Caviar
When you partner with Caviar’s premium marketplace, you’ll be able to increase your restaurant’s exposure while offering on-demand food delivery. Caviar (which is part of DoorDash) is an upscale brand, and white-glove support helps you with onboarding, making the process smooth and easy.
The official delivery partner of the Michelin Guide, Caviar focuses on high-quality foods and restaurants. The platform also helps you reach high-value diners, who spend an average of 55 percent more per order compared to the average third-party app order. Caviar even features an item-limit option that lets you try out a limited run of a new dish or cap the number of orders you’ll take for a product, driving excitement.
The right app for your restaurant
With so many delivery app options, it can be difficult to decide which is right for your restaurant. To start, make sure that the app works with your current POS system or that it offers an easy way for you to review and accept delivery orders.
Next, consider its fees. Are the delivery fees affordable for your customers, and is the value the app delivers worth the subscription fees?
Don’t forget to research what support is available if something goes wrong. The availability of live support is essential, especially if you run into an issue during your peak business hours.
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