In-app rewards are often the joy of consumers to the extent that they log into the app just for these rewards, sometimes. Well, now, having fun with these perks on the official Grubhub app will be more incredible more than ever. Here’s why.
Wonder, the company that owns Grubhub, has acquired restaurant rewards app, Claim. Through this partnership, an in-person rewards and guest engagement layer is going to be added to the expanding restaurant technology ecosystem of Grubhub.
This movie heralds a deliberate effort to assist restaurants when driving traffic, repeating visits, and enjoying lifetime value beyond deliveries, things that bolster the program of rewards of several platforms.
For the world-famous food delivery app, this deal reflects a “broader strategic shift.” While delivery apps are always effective in garnering demand, they regularly face acquisition costs, limited ownership and control of the guest relationship, and promotions that often fail to translate to long-term royalties.
This time, with Claim’s in-person rewards model, Grubhub is expanding its influence into on-premise dining and pickup experiences, re-asserting its strong position in the industry, more than just being a delivery-only intermediary.
The CEO of Grubhub, Howard Migdal, spoke about this, saying, “We’re committed to helping our restaurant partners build thriving businesses – both on and beyond our platform. Claim’s innovative rewards technology introduces a powerful new way for our restaurant partners to engage in-person diners and builds on Grubhub’s robust existing suite of marketing tools. With Grubhub and Claim together under one roof, we can scale Claim’s data-driven tools to our more than 415,000 merchants and help our nearly 20 million diners save more money at the restaurants they love.”
Claim is a rewards platform that lets diners earn automatic cashback rewards each time they dine or order stuff for pick-up from participating restaurants.
Unlike traditional platforms that work like this, the system requires no action from diners or staff. So, it’s more streamlined. There are no QR codes to scan, no offers to activate, and no workflow changes at the restaurant. Transactions are automatically recognized the moment payment is made, and rewards flow seamlessly in the background, just like vinyasa yoga.
Claim is partnered with restaurants to craft tailored promotions and offers designed to attract various diners. There is also a dashboard that showcases performance metrics.
Under this acquisition, Claim’s tools will be available to a larger audience base from Grubhub’s vast network of merchants, comprising of over 400,000 merchants across over 4,000 cities in the USA.
TechCrunch is one of the first to report about this amazing news. It stated that while the financial terms of the deal were not yet disclosed, Claim raised a total of $20 million, when it raised its $12 million Series A in October, 2024.
Correspondents on TechCrunch also stated that Grubhub’s acquisition of Claim will provide restaurants on the app access to various tools. In exchange, Grubhub diners will receive additional savings and rewards for dining out. Truly incredible!
“By combining a delightful rewards experience and powerful machine learning models, we match restaurants with their next regulars. Claim is a game-changer for these businesses, and joining Grubhub marks an exciting new chapter as we scale to reach millions more diners and thousands of restaurants,” noted Claim’s chief executive officer and co-founder Sam Obletz in a statement.