Yelp delivery, a long time coming
Yelp warned us, didn’t they? They told us this day would come. The day that the site began the transition into the one-stop-shopping spot that we, the internet age, so direly crave.
How many times have you been checking out a restaurant on Yelp and wished you could order directly from that page?
Janet H. says this place’s General Tso Chicken is off the chain, and the chow mein is worth twice as much as they charge you for it. I believe her. Why would she lie? Janet is an honest name, right? Now where’s the “add to cart” button…
Yeah right. Who am I kidding? I might as well just heat up a Hungry Man if it’s going to take this much elbow grease to order out. Since when did being lazy require so much hard work?
Wait, you’re telling me I need to go all the way to the restaurant’s website to order? And then I might have to call and talk to somebody? Yikes. We both know I’m too awkward over the phone to successfully complete a transaction with no speed bumps.
Yelp acquires Eat24
I would like to imagine that this scenario has played out in the minds of business owners and the Yelp folks enough times that they finally decided to streamline the whole shebang. Yelp has officially swallowed Eat24, and soon you’ll be able to order via an app or directly from the Yelp site itself.
I personally back this move 100 percent. Yelp is all about linking the consumer to the business, so the acquisition of an online order/delivery service just seems logical, and like a total Yelp thing to do.
It’s important to note that Eat24 is already pretty cool without Yelp’s involvement: 20,000 restaurants are already working with the service, and we can only expect that number to grow once ol’ Yelp stirs the pot with its giant wooden spoon.
The key is accessibility
Now, it might seem that I’m really playing this whole thing up. After all, Johnny, they’re only getting rid of one or two extra clicks. Well, naysayer, Yelp and Eat24 know what they’re doing. Accessibility is key, and the two of them teaming up could mean the difference between a local business’ success and failure.
If you’re still not convinced, shoot me an email when you’re curled up on your couch, watching Lord of the Rings in your sweatpants and going in on some Shanghai Beef.
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