7-Eleven adds Waitr to delivery lineup

7-Eleven has partnered with Waitr Holdings Inc. to expand its on-demand food ordering and delivery options.

Under the agreement, announced last week, Waitr and its Bite Squad and Delivery Dudes services will provide delivery from more than 700 of 7-Eleven’s 13,000-plus locations.

“We’re excited to reach and serve our customers on Waitr with what they want — when, where and how they want it,” sid Raghu Mahadevan, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven, said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing fan-favorite 7-Eleven products — like ice-cold Slurpee drinks, hot pizza or ice cream — to even more customers across the country.”

Waitr’s online ordering platform is accessible in more than 1,000 U.S. cities — including 90 new cities in 2021 — and includes over 26,000 restaurants, in addition to grocery stores. Waitr also facilitates access to third parties that provide payment processing solutions for restaurants and other merchants.

“The addition of 7-Eleven to our platform represents the newest example of our ongoing commitment to expand into new delivery verticals,” commented Carl Grimstad, CEO and chairman of Lafayette, La.-based Waitr. “This partnership creates a new level of convenience for our customers. Effective immediately, we will be able to deliver your favorite food and snacks from hundreds of 7-Eleven locations directly to you.”

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Waitr joins other third-party delivery partners at 7-Eleven. Instacart started same-day deliveries of online orders with 7-Eleven in September 2020, after the retailer inked delivery deals with DoorDash and Postmates earlier that year. Also, in February 2022, Target subsidiary Shipt expanded its same-day delivery operations to include 6,450 7-Eleven locations and Grubhub unveiled a delivery partnership with 7-Eleven, with plans to expand to 3,000 stores after a pilot in New York City.

The convenience store leader isn’t stopping there in extending its delivery reach. In December 2021, 7-Eleven announced it would test online order delivery using Nuro autonomous vehicles in Mountain View, Calif. Customers place orders through the 7NOW online delivery app and have their products delivered by custom-built, bot-powered vehicles.

Also, earlier this year 7-Eleven ramped up its delivery app with the introduction of 7NOW Gold Pass, a subscription program for $5.95 a month that waives delivery fees for members. The subscription service pays for itself in about three delivery orders per month, according to 7-Eleven.

Related:Grubhub now offers convenience store delivery in partnership with 7-Eleven