Postmates Adds Curbside Pickup Feature For Restaurants And Stores

Delivery service Postmates has announced a new Curbside Pickup feature that enables sellers to offer goods for pickup curbside, a common method employed by many companies while their dining rooms remain closed to customers. As expected, the new curbside feature means the individual picking up the order doesn't need to enter the building — rather, they'll be met outside by an employee.

Many companies have been forced to close down due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, but others can remain open on a provisional basis — cafes, restaurants, and similar places can continue to operate, but they are required to offer take-out or curbside pickup. While the ability to continue operating is important for these companies to survive, many didn't feature their own curbside pickup ordering system when the lockdowns went into place.

Postmates aims to offer these restaurants the functionality through its own system — with this, the company says, a customer can place an order, then the restaurant can prepare it and have it ready to pick up. When the customer arrives at the restaurant or shop, they can 'Check In' using the Postmates app to let the business know they have arrived.

Once the store is alerted through Postmates that the customer has arrived for their order, it can have an employee take the order out to the customer, eliminating the need to step inside of the business. This helps protect both the employees and the customers by maintaining social distancing and reducing contact between both people and surfaces.

The new curbside pickup feature joins the no-contact delivery option Postmates introduced on its platform in early March. With that, and as has become common among food delivery services, the customer can choose to have the order left on their porch where they'll then retrieve it after the customer leaves, eliminating the need to interact with a stranger.