Amazon extends Prime partnership with food delivery platform

Amazon will continue offering Prime members free participation in a premium online food delivery service.

The e-tail giant is adding another year to a free 12-month offer that lets U.S. members of the Prime paid loyalty program sign up for a free one-year membership in the Grubhub+ premium plan, which includes unlimited $0 delivery fees for orders over $12.

Grubhub+ membership normally costs $9.99 per month. Amazon launched this program with the on-demand delivery provider in July 2022, when it also acquired a 2% stake in Grubhub from the company’s owner, Netherlands-based global online food delivery marketplace Just Eat Takeaway.

Under terms of the agreement, this free Grubhub+ membership automatically renews each year unless terminated by either Amazon or Grubhub. Amazon also has the option to purchase up to a 15% total stake in Grubhub, which partners with more than 320,000 restaurants in over 4,000 U.S. cities.

With this new partnership extension, Prime members who have already signed up for Grubhub+ since the one-year offer was initially introduced can keep using Grubhub+ and will now receive an additional 12 months for a total of 24 months for free, at no added cost to their Prime membership.

In addition, Prime members who redeem now through July 5, 2023, can also obtain a total of 24 months of Grubhub+ for free. Prime members who redeem the offer July 6, 2023, or later will still receive 12 months of Grubhub+ for free.

Amazon initially partnered with Grubhub in August 2021, when members of its college-focused Prime Student loyalty program were offered exclusive savings for services including Grubhub+ Student on-demand food delivery. The e-tailer also launched a restaurant delivery service for Prime members in 2015, but shuttered it in 2019.

Amazon may be looking for a last-minute boost to Prime membership as July, the month it traditionally hosts its Prime Day online sales extravganza, approaches. A recent survey of U.S. Prime members from Tinuiti indicates that 80% of respondents plan to shop during Prime Day this year.Among those respondents planning to shop, 52% said they plan to spend more than they did in 2022. One in five surveyed Prime members plan to spend over $200.