Skift Take
Amazon's restaurant business is just getting started, but by aligning its technology with existing companies in the space, it is poised to go (very) big.
— Kristen Hawley
Amazon’s aggressive expansion into restaurants continues, with news that the retail giant will expand its Amazon Pay feature to include some restaurants in the northeast via a partnership with payments company Clover. The partnership allows diners to order and pay for takeout orders via their Amazon account, directly within the Amazon app.
Amazon’s strategy, as it grows to compete with the established players in the space, like Grubhub, is to partner with existing companies (in this case, the Clover POS system) to both expand and streamline its offering. Amazon is the clear leader in the logistics game, but this partnership isn’t about delivery. Instead, it’s a move by Amazon to get into brick-and-mortar locations. Still, this move, and the recently-announced partnership with online ordering company Olo, shows Amazon’s push into controlling all of the aspects of commerce, online and off. It’s also a statement about the way consumers search, order, and pay for goods and services. Restaurants don’t care where an order comes from as long as the orders come; by listing and offering food directly within Amazon, a restaurant widens its audience.
For now, Amazon Pay for takeout is only available at select restaurants in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C. and Amazon’s home base of Seattle.
This article originally appeared in the October 25, 2017 Skift Table Newsletter. Subscribe to get the latest in your inbox.
