Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. receive a new benefit as part of their subscription, the company announced. Today, they will be able to redeem a free year of Grubhub Plus, the monthly subscription service that offers free food delivery on orders over $ 12 from participating restaurants. Grubhub Plus usually costs $ 9.99 a month.
According to Amazon, the free deliveries associated with Grubhub Plus are available at hundreds of thousands of restaurants in more than 4,000 U.S. cities. Once the year is over, Grubhub will automatically start charging $ 9.99 a month to continue access. Existing Grubhub Plus subscribers can still make use of the promotion, which will apply at the start of their next billing cycle. Prime cancellation automatically cancels Grubhub Plus.
“We are confident that this offer will expose many new diners to the value of Grubhub Plus”
The deal comes just years after Amazon shut down Amazon Restaurants, its own attempt to compete in the takeaway market. The service ran from 2015 to 2019, but faced stiff competition from Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Since then, the e-commerce giant has focused primarily on grocery delivery, but has maintained a foothold in the takeaway delivery market through partnerships with other companies. It announced an investment in Deliveroo focused on Europe in 2019 and began offering access to its Deliveroo Plus subscription service as an added benefit for Prime members in the UK last year. As part of the deal announced today, Amazon is taking a 2 percent stake in Grubhub, which could increase to 15 percent over time.
“Amazon has redefined convenience with Prime and we are confident that this offering will expose many new diners to the value of Grubhub Plus while driving more business to our restaurant partners and drivers,” Adam DeWitt, CEO of Grubhub, said in a statement. The company, owned by Just Eat Takeaway.com, says it expects Grubhub Plus subscriptions to increase as a result of the deal.
GrubHub Plus isn’t the only additional benefit Amazon is announcing today for Prime members. The e-commerce giant is also making a short trailer for its upcoming TV show, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, available exclusively to Prime subscribers for 48 hours. Members can view the teaser on the show’s Amazon page. The trailer ends up promising that another teaser will arrive on July 14 before the series release on September 2.
Updated July 6, 5:55 AM ET: Updated to take into account Amazon’s 2 percent stake in Grubhub.