This is an opportunity to show the world this massive industry of takeout."
"We achieved all this size, and most people don't know who we are. The menu businesses-and GrubHub owns two because each of its ordering brands had acquired one in 2011-will also remain.įor Maloney, the goal of the public offering and the combined public company is to improve awareness for not just one brand, but the whole category. It had already started to redistribute its marketing spend in 2013, as the company increased the marketing budget for GrubHub by $5.8 million and cut $900,000 in ad dollars for the Seamless brand, according to its S-1. That said, GrubHub won't be pushing the Seamless brand in national advertising anymore, the combined company's chief tells Forbes. "But Seamless has been here 15 years, and it's really strong in New York, it's a religion. So what's in the name? "Part of the decision factor is it's a great ticker-GRUB is awesome," Maloney says. So the two joined forces, creating a company that combined for $1.3 billion in gross food sales last year (it takes about a 10% cut) and reached 3.4 million different diners for 2013. But Chicago-based GrubHub was winning almost everywhere else.
Seamless has held firmly onto New York City, the country's largest market. "With the narrative that was emerging around companies starting to nip at their heels, this changes the dynamic.Both companies had ambitions to go public independently and win the online takeout space, but gravitated toward different geographies. "They have very similar styles and work ethics, and the brands aren't that far apart - even the color scheme is the same.
It has partnered with GrubHub for several years. "I know people at both companies fairly well (and) I think culturally they're going to fit great," said Justin Massa, co-founder of Food Genius, a local startup that analyzes consumer dining data for the restaurant and grocery industry. GrubHub is focused on consumers ordering food at home in the evenings, while Seamless got its start on the corporate side, connecting restaurants with employees at law and financial firms who could expense their meals. GrubHub and Seamless, while they have been competitive in cities such as Chicago for several years, have different historical strengths. "We thought they could own the consumer because of the way they structured their website." "We felt early on that their user interface was, by far, superior to any other," Barron said.
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