The Delivery App Revolt

"To help local businesses, many of which are on the edge of going under, some people here are going out of their way to call restaurants instead of using fee-charging delivery apps," reports Heather Kelly.

Kelly's coverage of the delivery app revolt centers in the San Francisco bay Area—where residents opting out of the mobile app delivery game are opting out of many businesses headquartered in nearby cities. The terrible economic consequences of the pandemic have revealed the huge costs restaurants pay to play the delivery app game. 

Giuseppe Badalamenti, owner of Chicago Pizza Boss and a restaurant consultant, posted a receipt from another restaurant he was working with that showed seemingly exorbitant fees from Chicago-based Grubhub. What started as $1,042.63 in food sales was reduced to $376.54 after Grubhub fees for delivery, commission, processing and promotions. 

According to the article, customers aren't the only ones choosing to circumvent delivery apps by picking up directly from local businesses, some delivery professionals have also started taking personal delivery jobs.

The delivery app business has noticed, and some companies, like DoorDash and grubHub have changed their fee structures and have launched initiatives to provide direct support to local businesses. And despite the growing revolt, delivery services have done more business than ever since most parts of the country started staying at home in March.