Pingup and EatStreet Set the Table for Simple Digital Food Ordering

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Ordering dinner is getting a little bit easier.

Two powerhouses in the chain that links that Chicken Phad Thai to the plate on your table are partnering to simplify the process of actually getting it there.

EatStreet, the digital ordering service with more than 15,000 restaurants in over 250 cities in its quiver and transactional tech developer Pingup (connecting scores of thousands of merchants with big time publishers) have announced a partnership to allow “customers to order with the click of a button” after finding their restaurant of choice. These are found on Yahoo Search or YP, as well as Citysearch, Superpages and other outlets — and total over 100 million monthly users according to Pingup.

“Now consumers can order food from EatStreet’s restaurants directly from their merchant listings on Pingup’s publisher partners,” said Mark Slater, CEO of Pingup.

Pingup is also know for its forays into AI ordering, allowing consumers to “chat” with a conversational bot over messaging platforms to order from local merchants.

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The way it works is simple: First, Pingup aggregates all merchant listings through its API (for EatStreet and all its supplier partners with over 150,000 businesses). Next, Pingup delivers a single data feed of all merchants to the publishers who then display a call to action button on their own local listings, Slater said. Pingup then manages the user experience and transaction flow within a branded publisher experience.

According to EatStreet CEO and cofounder Matt Howard the two companies have complementary offerings making the deal a natural: “Since we founded EatStreet our goal has been to make the ordering process as simple and efficient as possible for every diner. Pingup is on a similar mission through its online publishing partnerships, making this a great match as we continue to grow.”

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“Consumers demand simple, immediate digital transactions – especially when they are hungry! Pingup connects EatStreet’s local businesses with over 144 million consumers through our publishing network, including Yahoo and YP, and powers their instant, in-context food ordering,” Slater said in a release. “We look forward to working with EatStreet to help grow their food transactions via a frictionless consumer experience with our search engine and directory partners.”

So is this an indication of a closer working relationship between the two companies, perhaps combining their solutions for a single offer?

“Right now we are focusing on executing and optimizing this partnership. We foresee a long partnership making food ordering faster and easier for consumers using the biggest online search and discovery publishers,” said Slater. “We are just starting the partnership and both companies bring unique strengths to the equation — EatStreet has direct relationships with their local food merchants and Pingup aggregates scores of suppliers like EatStreet to provide a singular, data-normalized feed to the major publishers.”

RickRRick Robinson is SVP of Product for on-demand roadside assistance startup Urgent.ly. He is also an advisor to Street Fight. Follow him at @itsrickrobinson