Starting today, you can use the Waze navigation app to order ahead at Dunkin’ Donuts
Waze’s traffic navigation app already shows ads prodding drivers to swing by fast-food joints like Dunkin’ Donuts and Taco Bell. Now it’s adding a new item to its menu — the ability to place orders at some shops.
On Tuesday, the Google-owned app will start letting drivers purchase coffee and other items from Dunkin’ Donuts for pickup along their way. It’s the first time that Waze has offered this kind of “order ahead” option, but unlikely to be the last.
If all goes well with the Dunkin’ Donuts test, Waze plans to team up with other merchants so its millions of users can order pizza, reserve parking spaces, fill prescriptions and even buy groceries without having to open another app on their phones.
“It could be almost anything that a driver could order ahead and have ready for pickup,” said Jordan Grossman, head of Waze’s business partnerships in North America.
Waze won’t earn a commission on the Dunkin’ Donuts sales made in its app. Instead, Dunkin’ Donuts has agreed to increase the amount it spends advertising on Waze. Neither Waze nor Dunkin’ Donuts would disclose the size of the increase.
Dunkin’ Donuts has its own app, which until now was the only way to order ahead at the chain’s stores . But working with Waze made sense, said Scott Hudler, chief digital officer for Dunkin’ Brands. “Waze involves the ritualistic behavior of driving to work on your daily commute, and we are a brand built on a ritual too,” he said.
Drivers using Waze’s “order ahead” option will need the Dunkin’ Donuts app as well, although they won’t have to open it. They’ll also need to be registered with Dunkin’ Donuts customer loyalty program.
The push into e-commerce is Waze’s latest step beyond its original purpose of recommending the fastest way to drive someplace.
Waze also offers a carpooling feature that pays drivers to pick up passengers headed in the same direction. It’s available in the Bay Area; Sacramento and Israel.
Waze will also offer the carpooling option in Brazil later this year. Though still in its infancy, that service could siphon passengers away from ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.
ALSO
United Airlines says customers are ‘welcome’ to wear leggings — unlike teens who used special passes
Whatever you do, don’t say yes when this chatbot asks, ‘Can you hear me?’
As millennials ‘Venmo’ each other money, banks fight back with their own mobile apps
