A network effect clearly took hold, as more and more customers were drawn to the convenient plethora of options afforded by both companies, and more and more food options were drawn to those customers. Why Fight Over a Market When You Can Maximize it Together? image: Īs the hordes of smartphone and tablet users continued to grow, so did the number of restaurants looking to partner with these two online-ordering behemoths. GrubHub grew rapidly over the next few years, and its predecessors at Seamless were forced to watch as the new kid on the block expanded to a number of domestic cities, and eventually to international locations as well. GrubHub also had the benefit of fortunate timing on its side as well, seeing its debut and subsequent rise coincide with the emergence of both iOS and Android, platforms that allowed the company to take its reach well outside of the Windy City with much less of a bang to the start-up’s budget. The company’s early days were buoyed by a creative and viral-focused marketing campaign, which combined clever CTA advertisements that bordered on completely inappropriate for public consumption with well-designed company communications and customer service. Of these new competitors in the emerging field of online ordering, perhaps none attracted more initial attention than Chicago-based GrubHub.

While Seamless Web was a success, and continued to operate at a profit throughout the early 2000s, company executives and media officials realized that the growth was a bit stagnant compared to some of the other new companies emerging on the scene.

Individuals alike with a responsive and convenient interface for planning their next party or corporate event, years ahead of the first mobile smartphones and tablets. The site fulfilled its initial intentions, providing large companies and When Seamless Web launched, back in the fledgling days of e-commerce just before the new millennium rolled in, its original founders had designs on providing an intuitive and simple online catering service. Author: Adam Hausman The Marriage of GrubHub and Seamless

Grubhub and seamless