Waze Goes Dunkin’ With New Order Ahead Option

Picking up donuts while out in the car is a fairly logical extension of being in the car in the first place. This is particularly true if it’s any time before noon, and even after in many cases.

Doing that, meanwhile, just got a little easier thanks to a new connection between Waze and Dunkin’ Donuts.

With the new connection, Waze offers an order-ahead option that lets Waze users find a Dunkin’ Donuts location in the general vicinity, place an order, and then pick up said order from the location selected. For those not familiar, Waze is a real-time navigation app that lets users share important information about construction and other matters.

This likely won’t be the last time we see something like this, either; Waze’s Jordan Grossman noted that this was “…essentially the first phase of what we see as being a deeper integration in the future.” Grossman also notes that the essential plan for Waze is to take some everyday activities and make these a whole lot easier to carry out.

In this case, Grossman notes, it was the combination of commuting and getting a cup of coffee, as well as a donut to go with it in all likelihood. Here, Waze and Dunkin’ Donuts just got together to improve the process.

It’s a safe bet that Dunkin’ Donuts paid for the right to be included in Waze, and the further inclusions could go on for days. Why wouldn’t any donut shop want in on this? Why not any restaurant with a drive-thru or carside-to-go option? Come to think of it, what’s to stop any auto parts store, gas station, or anything else, for that matter?

The options are almost limitless; if you’re in a car and you need something, Waze could very well wind up as the central clearinghouse for every to-go or pick-up item on the face of the earth.

It’s exciting to see something like this develop, and it’s a pretty safe bet that we’ll continue to see it develop going forward. With businesses able to advertise and have those ads readily followed up on, there’s every reason to make this happen throughout the spectrum.