With GrubHub’s database of restaurant listings and YP’s participating brands, users will be able to view menus and place orders on direct information pages for each restaurant. While the extra exposure is positive for GrubHub’s restaurants, it is unclear if the new capability can draw news users to YP.

“For YP users who want to order ahead, this might be interesting, but I don’t see users transitioning to Yellow Pages because of this offering,” said Nathalie Reinelt, analyst at the Aite Group, Phoenix.

Hungry for more
Up until now, YP users were forced to leave the YP site to place their orders. Consumers are increasingly looking for a more seamless process that eliminates redirecting.

The entire strategy of mobile ordering promotes local business and customer satisfaction. Consumers will likely be appreciative due to a speedy transaction, as well as restaurants will be grateful for more exposure.

Users can now search for a takeout restaurant and start placing orders on the YP app, which is available on iOS and Android.

Restaurants appearing on YP will contain a GrubHub buy button to show its compatibility, and GrubHub will complete all transactions. Consumer data will remain with GrubHub, while searching, click-throughs and other information will still be hosted by YP. Therefore, a GrubHub account is required, but the user never leaves the YP site.

YP will continue to use past searches as data to retarget returning customers.

In the making
With mobile ordering for take-out food growing quickly, competition in the space has been heating up given GrubHub’s filing for an initial public offering in March while Foodler has been strengthening its loyalty positioning via an integration with mobile rewards and payments platform LevelUp.

GrubHub hopes to raise up to $100 million via a public offering and plans to use the money for working capital and possibly to acquire complementary businesses. While GrubHub is a leader in the space, Foodler is looking to compete by making it easier for users to checkout and giving them more ways to earn rewards (see story).

Earlier this year, GrubHub finished off its first-ever week-long Snapchat scavenger hunt in which it randomly gave away free grub while engaging with consumers on the increasingly popular channel.

Every day GrubHub posted a new story on Snapchat that invited consumers to take part in a daily challenge for a chance at winning $50 of free food from GrubHub. Consumers were asked to send a Snapchat back to GrubHub with the daily challenge, and ten winners were randomly selected each day (see story).

Mobile ordering is on the edge of becoming completely crucial for establishments such as GrubHub. Consumers are increasingly on their mobile devices and are willing to make transactions.

“There is nothing terribly innovative about ordering ahead via a mobile app,” Ms. Reinelt said. “Many restaurants have been doing this for years through their Web sites, now it’s just transitioning to handheld devices via apps.”

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York