Amazon Wants To Deliver That Shake Shack Burger You Don’t Feel Like Getting For Yourself Image courtesy of Mark Turnauckas
Not content with its recent push into groceries with the purchase of Whole Foods, Amazon is now expanding its efforts in restaurant delivery with a new partnership that could allow customers to order from chains like Shake Shack, Chipotle, and Applebee’s online.
Amazon is teaming up with Olo, a company that handles digital ordering and payment technology for about 200 restaurant brands — with 40,000 locations around the country — to beef up its Amazon Restaurants service.
Amazon Restaurants is integrating Olo’s new Rails technology that will allow restaurant operators to list their menus through the platform and take orders through Amazon.
While Olo works with restaurants like Shake Shack, Chipotle, Applebee’s, Denny’s, Five Guys, Jamba Juice, and others, that doesn’t necessarily mean all of those eateries will be available through Amazon Restaurants. At the moment, only Italian chain Bucca Di Beppo has publicly acknowledged it will sign up for Amazon deliveries, notes Bloomberg.
“This integration will enable Amazon Restaurants to onboard new restaurants with ease, as well as quickly add more new choices and delivery options for customers,” the company said in a statement.
As for what’s in this for Amazon, well, that’s pretty clear.
“They’re obviously looking at new business segments — this is a big market for Amazon to get access to,” Olo CEO Noah Glass told Bloomberg.
After launching its restaurant delivery service — for Prime members only — in its hometown of Seattle in 2015, Amazon has slowly expanded Restaurants to more than 20 major cities including New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas.
Currently, it requires a $20 minimum delivery — and there may be additional charges for each order, depending on where you get your food from.
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.