Grubhub ‘deferring’ commission fees for restaurants affected by coronavirus

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

Food delivery service Grubhub announced that it is “deferring” commission fees for restaurants impacted by coronavirus restrictions.

The company is also matching promotions being offered through its Smart Promotions feature, making them more impactful.

The company will defer up to $100 million in commissions, which can be up to 30% of an order value.

In addition, like many other food and other delivery services, the company is offering a “contact free” delivery option.

Partner restaurants will likely still have to pay Grubhub fees — presumably once the crisis is over — but the company hopes temporarily suspending fees will help with restaurant cashflow.

However, critics say the company should do more to help and deferring fees is just postponing the inevitable.

The company is also receiving a fair amount of publicity about the decision that, in many cases, doesn’t make it entirely clear that the fees will, under the current deal, need to be paid back in the future.

In addition, the company is also setting up a relief fund for impacted drivers and restaurants.