In a significant move to enrich its Prime membership offerings, Amazon has announced that Grubhub food delivery will now be a permanent part of its Prime benefits. This decision builds on a previous promotion where Amazon provided Prime members with a yearlong Grubhub subscription. Prime members can now enjoy ongoing free delivery on orders exceeding $12, further integrating Grubhub into Amazon’s expansive membership advantages.
This latest perk allows Prime members to place orders directly through Amazon’s website and mobile app, even if they are not current Grubhub users. The integration reflects Amazon’s strategy to make its $139-per-year Prime membership more appealing and competitive, especially as rival programs from Walmart and Target continue to emerge and expand.
Amazon’s involvement with Grubhub isn’t just limited to offering subscriptions as perks; the e-commerce titan also holds a financial stake in the food delivery service. In July 2022, Amazon secured the option to acquire a 2% stake in Grubhub, a subsidiary of Eat Takeaway.com. With the new five-year agreement announced, Amazon has obtained warrants representing a 4% stake, potentially increasing its total stake to as much as 19% based on Grubhub’s performance and customer growth metrics.
The inclusion of Grubhub as a permanent Prime benefit comes alongside other recent additions to the program, such as discounted memberships to One Medical and traditional perks like expedited shipping and video streaming. Amazon’s foray into food delivery isn’t new; it previously launched Amazon Restaurants in 2015, allowing Prime members to order meals from local restaurants. However, the service was discontinued in 2019, shifting Amazon’s focus towards enhancing its grocery delivery capabilities from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh.
This enhancement of the Prime membership with Grubhub benefits underscores Amazon’s ongoing strategy to retain existing members and attract new ones by diversifying the perks available under its flagship subscription service.
