When the boy and I started dating, we were on the phone and he mentioned that he had to go. His Chinese food had arrived. A few days later, I went over to his apartment so we could order dinner. He pulled out a takeout menu — his only takeout menu. It was from the same Chinese restaurant, where he had been getting almost the same dish over and over.
“What about Seamless Web?” I asked him. He had no idea what I was talking about.
I had him open his computer to a website I was quite familiar with – SeamlessWeb.com. “This site lets you order from any restaurant nearby. You don’t have to talk to anyone! You just select what you want and they bring it here!” I boasted.
The boy was resistant. He didn’t like the idea. He was used to calling in his order to the one place he knew and getting the same meal night after night. He was wary of this whole “internet” thing I spoke of.
“Okay… but how do I know the place we choose will even deliver here?” he asked.
“That’s the beauty!” I replied. “Seamless Web ONLY shows you the restaurants that deliver to your area!”
“How can I be sure the order will be right?” he wanted to know. “How can you ever be?” I shot back.
He still was not convinced. The internet is for news. That is its purpose and that is the only purpose it has. But I pushed it. Promised him he would love it. It’s easy. You don’t have to actually talk to a single person. I’d been ordering from Seamless Web practically since its inception. I remember when it was new and I received a card on the street from someone promoting it. I thought the idea was fantastic and I was hooked!
So I brought up a restaurant we wanted to order from and I showed him how to make his selections. He was not pleased with the fact that he had to enter his credit card number, but both myself and the Seamless Web privacy agreement assured him his numbers would be safe there. You have the option of saving your number on the site, which I love because it makes the ordering process even quicker.
We placed our order. Our food arrived.
The boy could not believe it. “We just check off what we want and then they show up to the door!” he exclaimed. He couldn’t believe how easy it was. And how much variety.
It took a few more times of ordering for the boy to become a full Seamless Web convert. Now he brags to anyone who will listen about how great this site is. He also claims that he discovered it and told ME about it. Uhhh…
Here’s how it works: you select the restaurant and place your order, and a fax gets sent to the restaurant with your info. If the restaurant has a question they have your phone number on the fax and will call you. Otherwise, they show up with your food — already paid for! And now Seamless Web is offering a pick up option in NYC. Exciting!
The site also allows you to rate and review your order, review your past orders and even save some as a favorite to make for quick and easy future ordering! Aside from the login page, the website itself is user friendly and easy to navigate. I’ve never been a fan of the homepage as the log in link for returning customers is tiny and you are often enticed to try to log in from the Corporate Accounts section just because the user name and password fields are prominent on that side. They really should do something equally as prominent for us returning customers!
SeamlessWeb was pretty cutting edge when they started a few years ago. Just as their idea was cutting edge, so was their business model. In addition to being on Facebook, Twitter, etc long before other companies were doing this, they also have a fantastic food blog! Check out their blog here: http://blog.seamlessweb.com/. The pictures look amazing and there are some great reviews and restaurant options! Their marketing strategy of giving the restaurants Seamless Web branded plastic bags was brilliant as well. Walk down the street in NYC and I guarantee you will see at least one of these bags.
Seamless Web started out just in New York City, but now they serve 14 cities — including London. I recommend clicking through the site and if they are in your city, try them out.
As for the boy, he is a true convert. He often muses that he doesn’t know how he ever ate dinner without it. What did he do before he knew about SeamlessWeb? Luckily, the boy met me. Now he will never pick up a phone and speak to a live human being again!
 
