Caviar, the food delivery app owned by Square, is introducing a new feature to its mobile application in the form of pickup orders that let customers skip the lines.

The new feature is being released on the west coast first, before expanding to the rest of the country. Caviar is attempting to cash in on the popular uses of mobile as a way of skipping the line and making in-store commerce easier.

“We’ve been using Caviar pickup in beta for the last several weeks and it’s definitely revealed an opportunity for sizable new volume in terms of mobile orders,” said Evan Kidera, President of Señor Sisig, a popular food truck in the Bay Area. “We understand how valuable our customers’ time is, and we recognize that our often long lines can be intimidating for new customers wanting to try our food. We see the incredible potential that Caviar pickup presents and we’re thrilled to offer our customers more options to experience Señor Sisig on the go.”

Caviar
With the rise of mobile has come the rise of ways that mobile can help consumers skip the most tedious parts of the commercial experience.

Where once, customers would have to wait in lines, order carryout food and then wait in more lines to receive it, mobile has ushered in the era of ordering on the go and picking up when it is ready.

Through mobile, more and more restaurants are being empowered to deliver food directly to customers’ hands thanks to apps such as Postmates and Seamless.

Caviar is putting its own spin on the market with a new feature for its mobile app that will allow consumers to order food for pickup and not just delivery.

This will open up a new level of order customization for customers to pickup food on their way home, instead of having to guess when they will be there.

The feature is rolling out on the west coast first, in San Francisco, East Bay, Los Angeles and Portland before coming to the rest of the country.

The feature is only available on iOS.

Mobile pickup
Caviar’s introduction of pickup to its mobile app services significantly expands what the platform is capable without undue stress on either the app or the restaurants involved.

Instead, it is a simple but effective way of opening up the possibilities of the platform in a way that is beneficial for customers.

The increasing reliance on mobile ordering also demonstrates he ways in which mobile has shaken up the restaurant industry, turning almost any restaurant into a potential carryout provider.

Compare the new feature to how other brands such as Pizza Hut have been aggressively expanding the options for mobile ordering for customers (see story).

Conversely, Caviar should be careful in offering this service only on iOS, as recent data shows the operating system has had considerable setbacks and could be set to lose some users (see story).

“OrderAhead’s expertise in improving the restaurant ordering process for busy diners and businesses is a great fit for Caviar and our commitment to helping restaurants grow,” said Gokul Rajaram, Caviar Lead at Square. “This addition will accelerate Caviar pickup and give more food ordering options to diners across the country.”