Groupon unveils own food delivery service

Hoping to stand out from the crowd by promising to save its customers up to 10 percent on every food delivery, Groupon plans to push its new service into Boston and Austin later this year after starting initially with a pilot test in Chicago, its home base.

“The potential in delivery and takeout is apparent – especially with the growth of mobile – and OrderUp’s operational ability, coupled with Groupon’s engaged customer and merchant base, bring tremendous scale to the space”, Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky said at the time of the acquisition announcement. Groupon has just launched the simply-titled Groupon To Go, an order-in service that focuses on (what else?) discounts for your food. As for why you’d switch to Groupon over Seamless? In Chicago, at least, the company itself is covering the cost of the aforementioned discount, though The Verge points out “The offer isn’t permanent, and it’s not clear how long it’ll stick around for”.

Though Groupon To Go is only active in a single city right now, Groupon actually has a larger presence in online food ordering under another name. OrderUp will continue to serve its smaller markets as an arm of Groupon’s delivery service.

The platform is basic for now, but Groupon is already planning a number of improvements.

In a statement issued yesterday (30 July), Groupon said that it has been piloting the initiative with 500 restaurants since March. That’s certainly something Groupon has on its mind while venturing into this emerging sales category, as it’s still struggling to turn itself into a profitable company. Over time, Groupon plans to enhance the service with things like real-time order tracking, so you can plot the progress of your delivery guy, along with group ordering and, as Munchery and others already do, setting up orders for future times and dates.