Grubhub trades endless email chains for a unified procurement platform

The challenge

Grubhub, a pioneer of the $350b+ online food delivery industry, was managing procurement with email threads.

Grubhub’s procurement team had grown from one person to over ten, managing everything from real estate deals to cybersecurity contracts. Meanwhile, their “system” remained stubbornly analog: manual email workflows with each function operating in its own silo.

“We were bumping our heads around email approvals,” said Brett Bartolai, Head of North America Procurement at Grubhub. “Each subfunction had their own requirements when working with suppliers.”

Brett’s team was playing air traffic controller, attempting to manage inputs from IT, legal, security, and finance, with zero visibility into where requests were stuck or how long anything actually took.

The breaking point came when they tried a different risk management solution that promised to solve everything. Instead, they got a system so rigid that making basic workflow changes required month-long waits.

“It wasn’t sustainable,” Brett said.

The solution

Zip arrived with a completely different philosophy: procurement software that actually works the way people think.

Zip could handle complex workflows, but, even better, Brett’s team could build and update those workflows themselves–no more waiting for IT support.

Brett described how Zip checked all the right boxes. “It was the configurability of the workflows, the chat functionality, the ability to comment within Zip. And especially the integrations with Slack, contract signature routing, and our ERP.”

But Zip did more than solve technical problems. It transformed Grubhub’s procurement philosophy. Instead of being the “policy police,” Brett's team could finally become strategic partners who meet stakeholders where they are.

The result

After launching Zip, Brett saw an immediate improvement in satisfaction for his internal customers.

“Everyone is in a better mood about the process, Zip, and ease of use,” Bartolai reports. “The attitude has greatly improved over the past couple of years.”

The visibility revolution has been equally dramatic. Grubhub now tracks cycle times down to individual functions and team members—data that was completely invisible before. Legal teams can see their contract volume metrics in real-time. Finance can monitor approval timelines. Procurement can spot bottlenecks before they become problems.

The procurement team that once managed requests through email chaos has transformed into strategic partners driving operational excellence. They’re not just processing requests—they’re actively contributing to Grubhub's mission of connecting people with the food they love.