How group orders make team meals easier and save you time

After 2 years of working separately, the camaraderie and collegiality of working in the office might feel like a thing of the past. But as some companies return to the office or introduce hybrid work, one way you can bring everyone together again is with team lunches.

When you think about organising team lunches, you might picture passing a phone around, crowding around one computer, or calling out orders to sort out a group meal delivery. But group orders don’t have to be a pain. With group orders placed on a business profile in the Uber Eats app or website, one team organiser can just share a link with their team, automatically submit the order at a set deadline, and in most cases, get orders prepacked and individually labelled.

If you’re interested in helping your people stay engaged and motivated with group orders, here’s how it works.

How to place a group order on Uber Eats

What makes a group order different from an individual order? A group order is an Uber Eats order where everyone joins a shared cart using a link. Everyone in the order can see where their meals are with joint tracking, and meals are individually packaged for easy meal distribution.

How to make a group order in the Uber Eats app or UberEats.com 

1. Select a restaurant, then tap Start group order.
2. Edit the order name, enter the delivery address, and set a deadline or spending limit if needed.
3. Choose whether you want to pay for the whole order or select Guests pay for themselves.
4. Share the link with your team.
5. After all participants have added their items, click on View Order in the top right, confirm the order details, then click Next: Checkout.
6. At the checkout screen under “Payment,” select your business profile and click on Place Order.

Each employee selects their meal on their own device, and the group order creator processes the team’s order. Meals will be delivered to the same location at the same time.

The creator can easily manage group orders without any hassle through features such as:

• Order deadline and reminders: Set an order deadline so all participants, including the creator, can get reminder notifications that their order deadline is coming up.
• Auto checkout: Once a deadline is set, your order will automatically check out at that time (currently available in select regions). Labeled items make meals easy to hand out.
• Bill splitting: In the Uber Eats mobile app, the creator can choose whether they want to shout the meal or have participants pay their share. If the group bill order is split, each participant pays for the items they've added to the order, including delivery/service fees, taxes, and tip. Bill splitting on desktop is coming in Q1 2022.
• Editable group order names: Customise the name of the group order to keep track of your orders.
• Joint tracking: Participants and the creator can view and track group orders as they’re in progress.

Employees can spend less time organising meals and handling payment logistics, and administrators can reduce costs by removing multiple service and delivery fees.

When to create group orders

A group order is useful when you want each person to add their meal items to one basket from their own device and have the food delivered to the same location at the same time.

If you’re a team lead, buy a group order to liven up a team brainstorming session. If you’re an executive assistant, create a group order for executive off-sites. If you’re a workplace or facilities manager, start a group order to thank your maintenance staff. If you’re a marketing manager, organize a group order for event meals.

For the best group ordering experience with Uber Eats, we recommend the following:

• Set a spending cap: If you’re choosing to pay for the whole order, set a monetary limit per meal before you send out the link to the group order to make sure you stay within budget.
• Order a max of 15 meals: Most restaurants can’t handle more than 15 orders at once, so if you’re ordering for a big group, think about scheduling your order instead.

Overall, team lunches that use group ordering can help create breaks in the workday and encourage connection among teammates, especially during times when many people are working from home. Small gestures like this can help everyone feel more comfortable and productive together.

Order for your team today with Uber for Business

Help your employees feel motivated and engaged no matter where they work. Higher employee productivity and a stronger team culture are just some of the results businesses see with our platform.

Start a group order today.

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