Amazon Eschews Chains for Independent Restaurants

In the prime of your life why would you want to vist a grocery store, cook dinner? If you don’t like doing dishes Amazon might be for you as they are testing a new complimentary service Restaurant Meal Delivery.  While new restaurant chains search for high priced land to open a restaurants.  Amazon want to by pass the land and building and simply bring you a meal. 

In Seattle the ability to order food from local restaurants and get it brought to their door just became one click easier. According to the Amazon Web site, customers can now order meals from Palermo Pizza in Capitol Hill and Pita Bite in downtown and Samurai Noodle in the University District, to name but a few.

Is restaurant meal delivery the true last mile marketing solution for Amazon? With the launch of restaurant delivery Amazon not only is entering a very crowed filed of competition in the local market including the likes of Grubhub, Peachd, BiteSquad and Postmates.  That list does not include restaurants that provide their own delivery including the likes of Papa Johns, Domino’s, Pizza Hut.  Will these legacy brands lose out to the marketing juggernaut that Amazon has become? Has technology become the Achilles Heel of legacy chain restaurants unable too seamlessly integrate marketing, messaging and technology?

Consumers in the Seattle area can access the service through the Amazon Local website or the company’s Amazon Local mobile app, which also offers people Groupon-style daily deals from other businesses and the ability to order food for pickup. According to Geekwire  Amazon isn’t doing any of the delivering, it seems – the couple of restaurants offering delivery via Amazon are already offer delivery as a part of their normal business, and they are just selling food through Amazon Local.

Does your current online ordering system offer marketing integration? What are you paying for your service?  I suspect that Amazon online food ordering that was launched with Amazon Local five months ago cost less and has many more aggregate users than your current system.

While Amazon is a Seattle-based online retailer offering this service in its home market only, you can bet they plan to grow. Amazon is making big plays in the food business, between its offerings through Amazon Local, and Amazon Fresh, the company’s grocery delivery service.  

Is your restaurant ready to integrate marketing, messaging, technology, and customers? Are you ready to out preform legacy chain restaurants too big to change to fast.  If so you just might want to check out Amazon. Tell them the Grocerant Guru™ sent you! The more calls they get the faster they will expand.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, grocerant scorecard, brand, or product placement assistance.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869