Amazon is offering Prime members a free Grubhub subscription, his latest attempt to make the $139-a-year loyalty program perks more enticing.
The e-commerce giant previously offered Prime members an annual subscription to Grubhub, which includes free delivery on orders over $12. The partnership announced Thursday makes food delivery an integral part of Amazon’s membership program. As part of the move, people who don’t have Prime will also be able to order Grubhub directly through Amazon’s website and app.
Amazon has steadily expanded its Prime perks offering in recent years to attract and retain members, even as it faces growing competition from loyalty programs from Walmart Inc. and Target Inc. The company has added a discounted One Medical membership to the program, in addition to existing benefits like expedited shipping and video streaming.
Amazon secured rights to a 2% stake in Grubhub, the U.S. subsidiary of Just Eat Takeaway.com, in July 2022, with an option to increase the stake to 15% if certain performance factors, such as the number of new customers added, are met.
Just Eat announced in a separate news release on Thursday that Amazon received warrants representing 4 percent of Grubhub shares. Under the new five-year agreement, Amazon will receive options for an additional 4% of Grubhub shares, and may also receive warrants for up to 10% of Grubhub shares, depending on performance conditions.
Amazon once operated a food delivery service that competed with companies such as Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash. The company launched Amazon Restaurants in 2015, a service that allowed Prime members to order meals from local restaurants and have drivers deliver them.
The company closed Amazon Restaurants after four years to focus on food delivery. The company has expanded its offering of non-perishable and grocery items available for purchase through its website. Additionally, Amazon offers online ordering for its Whole Foods and fresh produce supermarkets.