Delivery is not free. The restaurant apps want to get paid for all their hard work spending money on Google ads and account reps so that you can find them quickly. They spend a lot of money on advertising and in order to survive they need to pass those costs on to you and the restaurant
There are various ways the delivery apps add that cost to your order:
- Service Fees
- Deliver Fees
- Handling Fees
- Charge the restaurant money
- Charge a higher amount for each item
The end result can sometimes cost the consumer up to 91% more than simply going to the restaurant to pick up food.
Real World Food Ordering Costs Consumers Much More on UberEats, Grubhub, Doordash, and Postmates
NY Times Columnist Brian Chen recently wrote an article breaking down his experiences ordering online with all the major apps and comparing the cost to simply going to restaurant to pick up the food when pre-ordering on the phone.

In another real world example Chen compared the cost of going to subway vs having the subway sandwich delivered.

To read the full article visit: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/technology/personaltech/ubereats-doordash-postmates-grubhub-review.html