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Jeff Causey
Guest
Earlier this year Uber announced they were planning to expand their services to offer food delivery in some markets. Just over a month ago they launched their dedicated UberEATS app for consumers in ten markets to use to place orders. One of those markets was New York City. In addition to being able to offer standard menu choices from list of partner restaurants, UberEATS also offers an “instant delivery” option that included choices available for delivery within ten minutes. In a letter to customers in the New York City area, Uber announced they would no longer offer the instant delivery option.
Through instant delivery, Uber was offering the choice of a sandwich or a salad. Conceptually, this meant a restaurant could make up bulk orders of these items that Uber drivers could keep in their vehicles ready for quick delivery. With the elimination of this option, consumers will now have to order regular items and have a little bit longer wait while an Uber driver goes to the selected restaurant to pick up the order and then deliver it.
Cancellation of the instant delivery option will probably not have much impact on UberEATS customers since it appears not many were taking advantage of the option. However, it may signal something deeper about the market for food delivery. In particular, this may mean ultra-fast delivery times are not as important to the market as previously thought. If that is the case, that could spell problems for other food delivery services who were hoping to compete on speed of delivery.
For now at least, the elimination of instant delivery is limited to the New York City market, so we will have to watch to see whether UberEATS takes the same steps in other markets. The fast delivery available through instant delivery may be more viable in less dense communities. Despite this setback, UberEVERYTHING NYC general manager Michael Conti says the UberEATS service has been successful initially and the company has “seen an incredible response.”
source: Business Insider
Come comment on this article: UberEATS takes instant delivery off the table in NYC
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