Postmates Adds Cost-Free Group Delivery

Delivery and pickup company Postmates has added a free group delivery option, according to reports.  

The service is called Postmates Party, and it lets customers have meals delivered as part of a group. The food is still delivered separately, but it goes out all together with one driver making stops for each order.

The food will take longer to arrive but it will not carry a delivery fee. The service is starting in major U.S. cities and it’s not known if it’s going to be available in all restaurants.

Postmates said people can order from Shake Shack, The Halal Guys and Blaze Pizza, among others, and use the group option.

Party ordering isn’t always available, however. It will be activated during busy times and when a lot of people are ordering from the same place. If someone joins an ordering party, they have five minutes to complete the transaction.

Last month, Postmates confirmed that it filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The size and price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined,” the company said in a statement at the time. “The initial public offering is expected to commence after the completion of the SEC review process, subject to market and other conditions.”

Bloomberg reported that Postmates has picked JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America as its lead underwriters for the IPO. The company hit a valuation of more than $1.85 billion earlier this year after it raised $100 million from a funding round that included participation from BlackRock, Glynn Capital, Tiger Global and others.

That funding round came after a year of considerable growth for the company, which late last year debuted a delivery robot named Serve that uses cameras and Lidar to navigate sidewalks, but also has a human pilot working remotely who can take control if needed. A “Help” button, touchscreen and video chat display also allow customers or passers-by to call for assistance if an issue comes up.