Back in August, Square purchased food delivery company Caviar for a reported $90 million. A few months after the acquisition, Square is now bringing the Caviar experience to mobile with an app that allows customers to submit food orders on the go.
In the months leading up to the mobile app launch, Square has been introducing the Caviar service into new markets, hoping to cast a wider net once the app launched. Those cities include: its home market of San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington D.C., and Brooklyn.
Caviar doesn't make the food its customers order, instead partnering with well-established restaurants in these areas to become their exclusive delivery partner, in turn bring in new customers and unifying the delivery experience. Square's national popularity has helped Caviar land a number of popular and top-rated restaurants.
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The service also allows users to unify orders from multiple devices into one order, allowing multiple orders to be delivered to one location. The former web-only service now faces competition in the form of other food delivery services that have emerged on mobile devices, such as GrubHub and Seamless, amongst others. Similar to those apps, Caviar will let users track their meals from order to delivery, following the courier's route.
Known mostly for its credit-card reading payment processor accessory, the acquisition of Caviar and the launch of its new app sees Square attempting to add a bit of diversification to its existing business.
Caviar is available for both iPhone and iPad and can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
