The news: Block inked a deal with restaurant delivery software provider VROMO to help streamline food delivery for Square restaurants in the US, per a press release.

More on this: VROMO’s software automates delivery management for restaurants that use their own in-house delivery fleet, third-party delivery apps, or a combination of the two.

• Its features include branded order tracking, messaging for driver and customer updates, and order stacking.
• VROMO also has an overflow feature that will redirect customer orders to third-party delivery apps when in-house delivery isn’t available.

Why it’s worth watching: In the early days of the pandemic, many restaurants that had never implemented food delivery had to rely on apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats to stay in business. These apps charge restaurants anywhere between 15% and 30% in commission fees.

Although most restaurants are once again serving patrons on site, consumers still use food delivery services frequently: 43% of consumers order food delivery once a month or more, and 23% of consumers do so weekly, per a 2021 report by NextBite. With delivery now being a core service for dining customers, 47% of US restaurant franchise owners say delivery services are a leading area of investment for them in 2022, per a TD Bank and Engine Insights survey.

What this means: Block can use its partnership with VROMO to sustain customer loyalty and maintain its edge over restaurant point-of-sale (POS) providers like Toast—which recently amped up its mobile ordering and payment solutions.

VROMO can help Square restaurants improve their delivery capabilities.

• As food delivery remains popular with customers, VROMO can make delivery operations less expensive and more efficient for restaurants.
• Its software can help restaurants prioritize their in-house delivery fleet and only lean on third-party apps when necessary—helping them minimize commission fee costs.

VROMO lets Block further build out its Square for Restaurants suite.

• Block recently acquired restaurant ordering and marketing platform GoParrot to strengthen digital capabilities for restaurants. And it also partnered with audio and speech recognition tech provider SoundHound to help restaurants automate phone ordering.
• These enhancements let Block attract more restaurant clients and capture a larger share of the hospitality market: US food services and drinking place sales are expected to grow 14% year over year in 2022 and hit $929.79 billion, per Insider Intelligence forecasts.