Dive Brief:
- Grubhub has expanded its Campus Dining program to 60 additional schools across the U.S., including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Tampa, the University of Missouri, Howard University and Tulane University, the company said Wednesday in a press release.
- Grubhub now works with more than 360 universities, an increase of 21% compared to last year, and serves over 4.5 million students.
- Last year was pivotal for Grubhub Campus Dining, with the company reporting the most orders the 10-plus-year history of its campus partnerships. Total marketplace orders were up 30%, last year while delivery orders were up 35% for the channel. It also expanded the number of independent restaurants it connects to college communities through Grubhub by over 24%.
Dive Insight:
Grubhub allows schools to choose if they want mobile ordering, on- or off-campus ordering, or both. Students can view their available balances on their campus’ homepage in Grubhub’s mobile app and see both on- and off-campus offerings. Students at participating campuses are eligible to receive Grubhub+ Student for free. That program provides $0 delivery fees, lower service fees on eligible orders and 5% back in Grubhub+ credits for off-campus pickup orders.
In addition to its expanding campus partnerships, Grubhub will expand robot delivery to nearly a dozen more schools this semester, including University of Mississippi, Prairie View A&M University, Howard University, the University of New Mexico and University of Houston. The company, which works with Cartken, Kiwibot and Starship, said it currently offers robotic delivery at over 20 campuses and that hundreds of thousands of orders have been delivered with the technology to date. In 2023, robotic deliveries were up 500%.
Grubhub has also been using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology at on-campus convenience stores at Stevens Institute of Technology, Montclair State University and Loyola University Maryland. That technology is now being expanded to Ursinus College, the University of Virginia and Lindenwood University in the upcoming semester. Just Walk Out allows users to skip the checkout line at participating retailers, with payment automatically deducted from a meal plan or other linked Grubhub payments.
This expansion is part of the restaurant aggregator’s strategy to reach more customers. It expanded its Amazon partnership earlier this year, offering Amazon Prime members Grubhub+ membership free and adding Grubhub delivery to Amazon’s site and Shopping App. It also partnered with Starbucks in June.