On-demand meal delivery is a highly competitive business, and one that Amazon has decided to exit.
Amazon Restaurants, which operates for Prime members in more than 20 cities across the U.S., will deliver its last meals to customers on June 24, four years after the service launched.
It will also shutter Daily Dish, a lunch-delivery service for workplaces, on June 14.
The decision to close Amazon Restaurants comes six months after it pulled out of London following a two-year run in the U.K. capital. But Amazon hasn’t lost all interest in the sector as it recently led a $575 million funding round in meal-delivery service Deliveroo, which operates in multiple markets across Europe and Asia, though not in the U.S.
As noted by GeekWire, Amazon Restaurants was until recently continuing to expand into more cities, with its most recent launch in Nashville, Tennessee in January. In addition, the company was still adding to its team as recently as February when it advertised for a software development engineer “to help take Amazon Restaurants to the next level.”
But it’s since had a change of heart and has decided to close Amazon Restaurants later this month.
Commenting on the move, Amazon told Digital Trends: “Many of the small number of employees affected by this decision have already found new roles at Amazon, and others will be provided personalized support to find a new role within, or outside of, the company.”
App-based services that let you order meal deliveries from a variety of restaurants have witnessed huge growth in recent years. In the U.S., some of the most popular services include DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats, with others like Postmates recently announcing a major expansion that means it’s now able to serve more than 70% of U.S. households across all 50 states.
The apps let you explore numerous kinds of cuisine, with an order placed in just a few taps. Delivery fees can vary among the different services and restaurants.
If you happen to be using Amazon Restaurants and now need a replacement, or you just want to find out more about the different services available, then check out Digital Trends’ up-to-date pick of the best meal-delivery apps.
