Online food-delivery platforms are expanding and becoming more and more convenient. They allow customers to order from a wide array of restaurants with a single tap of their mobile phone— from your couch, your bed or anywhere you desire. It is not just food related. There are also clothes shopping apps.
Grubhub
Grubhub is one of the biggest delivery apps out there. Grubhub offers delivery from restaurants like Burger King, KFC, PF Chang’s, Hibachi Grill and more. According to their website, Grubhub is a free app; however, if you opt for delivery, the restaurant charges you a delivery fee. In that case, the fee is set by the restaurant or the delivery service the restaurant utilizes and would apply even if you placed your order by phone. Grubhub also emails you a receipt and sends you a confirmation text after you place your order.
Postmates
Postmates offers a wide variety of restaurants near your area. Their delivery fee ranges from $1.99–$3.99, but only for their “Partner Merchants” which are the restaurants with a green check by their name. All other merchants’ delivery fee ranges from $5.99-$9.99. In addition, depending on the restaurant you order from, Postmates will charge a small cart fee. A small cart fee of $1.99 for Postmates is charged when your order does not reach twelve dollars. According to the Postmates help site, one way to avoid this fee is by signing up for Postmates Unlimited. Postmates Unlimited is their subscription service which costs $9.99 a month or $95.88 per year. You can also get free delivery on orders over $20. Postmates also delivers groceries.
Instacart
Delivery platforms do not only deliver food from restaurants; they also deliver groceries. Instacart is an online and mobile app that shops for your groceries and delivers them to you. They include shops such as CVS, Publix, Costco, Petco, BJ’s, Whole Foods and Milam’s Markets. The delivery fee depends on the size of your order and the time it takes to deliver. In addition, at times of high demand hours, a busy pricing fee may be charged to your delivery fee. If your order is late, and you paid for busy pricing, then you will get a refund. Instacart Express is a way to avoid a delivery fee. Instacart Express is a subscription service that costs $149 a year and offers you free delivery on orders exceeding $35. However, there is still a service fee. Also, depending on the area they are delivering to, a sales tax may be applied.
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime Pantry will also delivery groceries. This service is for Prime members in select regions. Prime members can pay an additional monthly Prime Pantry membership fee to receive free shipping on all orders of $40 or more. If not, they can pay a flat $7.99 shipping fee for each order placed. The quantity of items in the order or the number of boxes does not affect the flat $7.99 fee per order. Since Amazon bought Whole Foods last August, you can also order your groceries from Whole Foods through the Amazon app. If you already have an Amazon Fresh account, there is no need to sign up for a Prime Pantry membership. Unlike Instacart, Amazon does not deliver that day. Orders may take 1-4 business days to arrive during which deliveries are only made in the hours between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m..
Dote Shopping
The delivery market has expanded to clothing as well. Dote Shopping is an app where you can shop hundreds of stores all in one place. Instead of creating multiple accounts, you create one account on Dote and shop from multiple retailers. They have over 103 stores including Revolve, Forever 21, ASOS, American Eagle, Sephora, Brandy Melville, and more. Return policies and prices are exactly the same as the information found on the retailer website. A bonus is that the payment is not immediately collected. Dote does not take money until the package is shipped from the store. Dote also allows you to save clothes for when they go on sale, and you can follow your friends or social media stars on Dote to see what they brought on their Dote page.
