The news: Grubhub is testing drone delivery for restaurant orders, joining the likes of DoorDash and Uber in testing consumer appetite for the service.

• The three-month test is limited to customers located within 2.5 miles of Wonder’s Green Brook, New Jersey, restaurant.
• The service will be available to Grubhub app users starting March 18, from 10:30am until sunset.

The strategy: Like its restaurant delivery peers, as well as retailers like Amazon and Walmart, Grubhub is testing drones as a means of getting orders to customers faster. The platform’s goal is to complete deliveries within 30 minutes of the order being placed, and within 5 to 8 minutes after the food is loaded into the drone, PJ Poykayil, senior vice president of customer delivery operations at Wonder and Grubhub, told Bloomberg.

Whether consumers take to drone delivery—and whether it’s a worthwhile investment for restaurants—remains to be seen.

• It has the potential to be more cost-effective than traditional delivery methods, given that it eliminates the need for customers to tip and reduces the manpower needed to fulfill orders.
• It could also encourage consumers to place smaller, more frequent orders for items like hot drinks or iced coffee, Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash’s drone program, told QSR Magazine.

The implications: While Grubhub’s test is fairly limited, both in geography and product selection, it points to a growing interest in drone delivery as a means of reducing fulfillment costs and increasing convenience for customers. A successful pilot could pave the way for a deeper partnership between Grubhub and Amazon, which expects to make half a billion drone deliveries annually by the end of the decade.

Still, getting consumers’ buy-in could be difficult. Just 16.2% of US grocery shoppers consider robot or drone delivery to be something that would make grocery shopping easier, according to an Amazon Ads and EMARKETER survey. That indicates that retailers’ attempts to expand drone delivery networks are not yet resonating with customers.