Hyatt Hotels Corp. through Feb. 28, 2022, is offering guests at 13 U.S. Hyatt Place properties free delivery of toiletries, snacks and other convenience-store-type products through a pilot program with delivery service Gopuff, the hotel chain announced Monday. The offer is effective immediately.
Gopuff is a delivery service in hundreds of U.S. cities that uses independent-contractor drivers to deliver products on demand. Unlike food-delivery services, though, Gopuff buys products in bulk and sells them through its platform, allowing it to offer a flat delivery fee of $1.95 regardless of the size of the order, though it has a minimum order of $10.95. There are additional fees for alcohol delivery where available, according to the company.
Hyatt said it and Gopuff developed a list of toiletries and other products that business and leisure travelers most commonly forget after conducting in July a survey of 2,007 travelers. Those lists, including toiletries and first aid items, are available via specific categories through Gopuff, according to Hyatt, "to ensure guests have easy, quick access to the items they need most while traveling."
The agreement illustrates the tentative but noteworthy bond between growing delivery services and hotel chains, with the latter exploring the possibilities of the former without cannibalizing their own food and toiletries offerings. And a 2020 McKinsey & Co. study noted the size of the U.S. e-commerce market had doubled in the prior five years, highlighting consumers' acceptance of and comfort with paying for rapid deliveries, and that was before the Covid-19 pandemic helped to further fuel that trend.
Along with free delivery, guests in the participating Hyatt Place properties will receive $10 credit for each of their first two orders through the platform, according to Hyatt. The 13 properties are located in Chicago, Denver, Nashville and Phoenix. Some delivery of fresh meals, including sandwiches and pizza, are available at some of the Nashville and Phoenix properties.