Apple Pay gained the support of two major on-demand food delivery services on Friday, as Grubhub included Apple's payments service as a checkout option in updates to its Grubhub and Seamless iOS apps.
With Apple Pay integration, customers ordering food through the new Grubhub and Seamless apps have access to a streamlined checkout procedure that could shave minutes off the ordering process, reports TechCrunch. As with any e-commerce service, low friction payments equal higher conversion rates.
"We're always looking for ways to make it easier for our diners to find and order the type of food they want, when they want it, from their favorite local restaurants," said Sudev Balakrishnan, SVP of Product for Grubhub. "We're thrilled to bring the ease of use of Apple Pay to our diners. It offers another quick and convenient way for them to pay for their meals, whether they're at home or on the go."
Grubhub's support is viewed as a big win for Apple's payments service, which has seen lukewarm interest from online retailers since launching in 2014.
Following a 2013 merger with competitor Seamless, Grubhub boosted sales to $2.4 billion last year, 60 percent of which came through mobile orders.
Routinely overshadowed by its NFC touchless capabilities, Apple Pay's in-app functions are equally important to the product's success. Like industry stalwart PayPal, Apple Pay not only handles transactions, but saves users time by supplying pertinent information like shipping addresses and phone numbers to retailers. Built on tokenized transactions protected by Touch ID authentication, the service is also highly secure.
While Apple's network of supporting banks and credit card companies continues to grow internationally, retail adoption has been comparatively slow. According to Apple's website, Apple Pay is currently accepted at just over 90 major chains in the U.S. Apple has not released figures on its nascent payments service, but a report this week estimates Apple Pay handled some $10.9 billion in transactions last year, most of which originated in the U.S. domestic market.
As can be expected, the company is working to build out international support for Apple Pay, with a current focus on Asia and Europe.
The latest Grubhub and Seamless app versions with Apple Pay integration can be downloaded for free from the App Store.