OpenTable launches delivery

With the help of delivery services, consumers are dining at home more often, and OpenTable wants a piece of that action. On Wednesday, the reservation platform, which is part of Booking Holdings, Inc., announced that it has partnered with Caviar, Grubhub and Uber Eats to offer delivery and pick-up options.

“Sometimes plans change or the weather doesn't cooperate. Instead of canceling their reservation, diners can now enjoy the meal they had planned from home,” said Joseph Essas, chief technology officer of OpenTable, in a statement. “Our goal is to make OpenTable the go-to app for all dining occasions. Adding delivery is an important next step.” 

Delivery will be available at 8,000 restaurants across 90 metropolitan areas in the U.S. on the company’s updated app. Delivery options will only be shown in metros where OpenTable and providers have overlapping restaurant partners. 

"By adding delivery, we hope to give diners another way to experience your restaurant, even if a table isn’t available (or they just can’t make it in). Restaurants can increase revenue through delivery when reservations are limited and keep building loyalty with guests, with no additional fees to their OpenTable bill," according to a company blog post.

Future features will include estimated delivery time and cost.

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"We want to make it incredibly easy for diners to discover new Grubhub restaurants and order their favorite dishes on all the digital channels they visit when they’re hungry," said Goody Seif, senior director of business development at Grubhub, in a statement. "By partnering with OpenTable, we're also helping our restaurant partners reach more diners with delivery when a visit to the restaurant or a reservation isn’t available."

OpenTable has been expanding its service as of late. In June, they announced a partnership with Upserve, a POS and restaurant management system.

“While we know that our diners love to join us to get the full restaurant experience, we understand they need options for when they can’t make it in,” said Dan Simons, co-owner and founder of Kensington, Md.-based Farmers Restaurant Group.

Diners are getting the “full restaurant experience" less and less these days. Digital orders from restuarants have grown at an average annual rate of 23% since 2013 and are projected to triple in volume by the end of 2020, according to research firm The NPD Group.

And the trend shows no sign of stopping. The $13 billion third-party food delivery market is projected to grow to $24.5 billion by 2022, according to a 2018 report by food strategy firm Pentallect Inc.

Related:OpenTable and Upserve partnership increases personalization

Contact Gloria Dawson at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @GloriaDawson

July 24, 2019: This article has been updated with additional information from OpenTable.