By Katherine Dominek, ‘19
The clock strikes twelve.
Your stomach begins to grumble.
You are craving a nice, warm hamburger, salty fries and a cup full of bubbly cola.
Problem is you are stuck at home without means of transportation. You open your fridge where you have a box of Chinese take-out from who-knows-when. You begin to open the polystyrene container when a thought hits you: “Why don’t I try out one of those food delivery apps?” You search for one on the App store and a page full of apps pop up. Which one do you choose?
We ordered from two prevalent online delivery apps—Grubhub and Postmates—to aid you in your search for fast, fresh food.
Layout –
Winner: Grubhub
Grubhub’s layout allows consumers to filter restaurant by not only cuisine, but by ratings, price and delivery time as well. While Postmate’s layout may be more aesthetically pleasing, as it primarily shows tiles each featuring a different restaurant, it’s more difficult to navigate and may take longer to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Menu –
Winner: Grubhub
While a restaurant’s menu may be relatively similar on both apps, Grubhub provides a description for each item, allowing first-time customers to know exactly what they will be receiving. The app also filters the “most popular” items to the top of the menu.
Order –
Winner: Grubhub
Grubhub’s order screen is much more detailed, having the consumer select the proper portion, side and personalized requests, with ease. While Postmate offers “special instructions,” the consumer must type in their request instead of checking a box.
Fees –
Winner: Grubhub
Postmate’s fees come in two parts, fees and delivery. The tip for your Postmate is not included in the payment process, it is a step to complete post-delivery. Grubhub has one fee: the delivery fee. The tip for your merchant is mandatory and is part of the payment process. The delivery fee for Postmates tend to be much higher than Grubhub’s even without tipping the Postmate.
Messaging –
Winner: Grubhub
Grubhub messages once the restaurant has received the order, and when the order is on it’s way. The “on the way” message includes an updated delivery time. Postmates only messages you once your delivery as arrived to your location, stating your Postmate’s name and that they, “will wait for up to 5 minutes.”
Delivery Time –
Winner: Postmates
This just comes down to who delivered faster: Postmates.
Rating System –
Winner: Postmates
Consumers are able to rate their Postmate through a star system post-delivery, which is simple and quick. Grubhub sends a survey an hour after your order has been delivered. The survey contains many questions ranging from, “[w]as your delivery on time,” to, “[t]ell us your thoughts on this restaurant.” A survey like this one may take a minute to complete, though it is completely optional.
So, which is better?
Grubhub.
From layout to ordering to price, Grubhub takes the cake— more so, delivers the cake.