4 ms·

I don't think Uber Eats has any specific pros over the million other food delivery startups

wskinner 8y ago
It does on the supply side. It keeps drivers on the Uber network, which is good for both the rides business and the Eats business due to more consistent supply, and good for drivers due to higher total volume of work. The eventual result is that Uber can operate more efficiently than competitors that only do rides or food, allowing them to compete better in both markets. (I used to work at Uber)
- clairity 8y ago
  exactly. ubereats is a flanking product, meant to protect the core business. strategically, uber really only has market power on the supply side, and ubereats is primarily about protecting that advantage and less about being a standalone business (although i'm sure they'd be thrilled if it succeeded as a standalone business). i'd be surprised if ubereats went away any time soon. at least, not without something else replacing it.
  - slivym 8y ago
    In European markets there is literally no overlap between Uber Eats and Uber. Uber drivers are driving Toyotas, Uber eats drivers are riding mopeds and bicycles. You can't just switch from one to the other.
    - flak48 8y ago
      Same in Asia
- konschubert 8y ago
  I'd go even further. I'd say that Uber has zero moat in it's core business, anyone with a little bit of cash can roll out a competitive alternative in any city onces Uber raises prices. But with Uber eats, a competitor has to also roll out meal delivery in order to be equally profitable and thus competitive. Still not a huge moat, but a little bit harder to beat.
  - valuearb 8y ago
    Disagree, in fact i see it the opposite way. Uber has a huge most that Eats adds almost nothing to. Every day millions of people reach into their pockets to request a ride using the Uber app. Competing with Uber means a) recruit large numbers of drivers so your app has rides to offer. b) convincing large numbers of people to download your app. c) convincing them to make your app their primary ride share choice. Even tackling a small city would be horrendously expensive. If it truly was easy Uber would be getting eaten alive by numerous small startups in every major city they operate in.
- WorkLifeBalance 8y ago
  Does this work in jurisdictions such as London where there are extra checks that drivers must pass? I can't imagine that a food delivery service could be competitive using drivers rated for safe person delivery. Is the driver fleet for Uber eats even the same as the minicab fleet or is it really just another business?
s17n 8y ago
The business case is that by using the same fleet for ride hailing and delivery they can provide the service for a lower cost than competitors that only do delivery.
- valuearb 8y ago
  When both the business of ride hailing and delivery lose money, it means you can lose money twice as fast as your competitors that only do delivering.
valuearb 8y ago
The idea that there is any synergy with Eats is a classic "bad business decision" based on hoped for benefits with a core business instead of a business that can stand on it's own legs. Driver and customer acquisition costs are high enough in their core business, why hemorrhage money in Eats spending to acquire drivers for it? In hopes that keeps some percentage as Uber drivers?
swozey 8y ago
UberEats brought a kind of a consistent experience to what-ever-i-want-food-delivery. I researched this stuff heavily for a food delivery startup maybe 4 years ago, met with drivers from different options (back then there weren't many, Postmates wasn't popular in TX at all) and it seemed like Eat24 and GrubHub were the big ones where I was (in terms of options, etc). Personally I can't believe Favor didn't absolutely bomb but I digress and great work guys. The experience was absolutely awful back then. That's why I wanted to get into it. You'd have restaurants on FOO that didn't even know they were on FOO, so you'd make an order then FOO would literally call in and place the order acting like a customer doing a regular pickup (possibly screwing it up). Then FOO would find a delivery person in that area, like around college towns they'd call the local delivery food couriers and pay them to go pick it up. They'd make deals with groups and have to switch them out constantly. If one courier closed at 9 but your ordering at 11 who knows who would be delivering the food if you got it at all. I don't know how many times my food vanished into the night and I just never heard anything. The experience absolutely sucked. And a transaction that can already be rife with issues (restaurant forgetting an item, etc) now had even more possibility of giving the customer a bad experience. Now it's not all perfect now and there's definitely issues and always will be but UberEats actually seems to have forced some sort of standardization upon the entire process and the competitors have really had to just GET BETTER in general because of it. I can see my driver, see their GPS, the menu tells me if something is out of stock, the restaurant controls their menu, the restaurant knows it's UberEats, etc. From the restaurant perspective they get to tap into UberEats population, use their drivers which is a streamlined process, UberEats has it's own software to see analytics, the popularity of their dishes, etc. I could've been the Food Delivery King but I decided to work on a SAAS! C'est la vie. Kidding. I'd probably just be bankrupt now. "What if Uber, Yelp and Facebook get into this?" was never a thought that crossed my mind..
- ExactoKnight 8y ago
  SkipTheDishes provides an objectively better user experience than UberEats, especially with the Apple Pay integration.
  - swozey 8y ago
julianozen 8y ago
Also, Uber’s are popular during commute hours, but in city deliver is popular during business hours. Uber eats picks up during meals. Different services leverage the same fleet at different times of the day

It does on the supply side. It keeps drivers on the Uber network, which is good for both the rides business and the Eats business due to more consistent supply, and good for drivers due to higher total volume of work. The eventual result is that Uber can operate more efficiently than competitors that only do rides or food, allowing them to compete better in both markets. (I used to work at Uber)

clairity 8y ago
exactly. ubereats is a flanking product, meant to protect the core business. strategically, uber really only has market power on the supply side, and ubereats is primarily about protecting that advantage and less about being a standalone business (although i'm sure they'd be thrilled if it succeeded as a standalone business). i'd be surprised if ubereats went away any time soon. at least, not without something else replacing it.
- slivym 8y ago
  In European markets there is literally no overlap between Uber Eats and Uber. Uber drivers are driving Toyotas, Uber eats drivers are riding mopeds and bicycles. You can't just switch from one to the other.
  - flak48 8y ago
    Same in Asia
konschubert 8y ago
I'd go even further. I'd say that Uber has zero moat in it's core business, anyone with a little bit of cash can roll out a competitive alternative in any city onces Uber raises prices. But with Uber eats, a competitor has to also roll out meal delivery in order to be equally profitable and thus competitive. Still not a huge moat, but a little bit harder to beat.
- valuearb 8y ago
  Disagree, in fact i see it the opposite way. Uber has a huge most that Eats adds almost nothing to. Every day millions of people reach into their pockets to request a ride using the Uber app. Competing with Uber means a) recruit large numbers of drivers so your app has rides to offer. b) convincing large numbers of people to download your app. c) convincing them to make your app their primary ride share choice. Even tackling a small city would be horrendously expensive. If it truly was easy Uber would be getting eaten alive by numerous small startups in every major city they operate in.
WorkLifeBalance 8y ago
Does this work in jurisdictions such as London where there are extra checks that drivers must pass? I can't imagine that a food delivery service could be competitive using drivers rated for safe person delivery. Is the driver fleet for Uber eats even the same as the minicab fleet or is it really just another business?

s17n 8y ago

The business case is that by using the same fleet for ride hailing and delivery they can provide the service for a lower cost than competitors that only do delivery.

valuearb 8y ago
When both the business of ride hailing and delivery lose money, it means you can lose money twice as fast as your competitors that only do delivering.

valuearb 8y ago

The idea that there is any synergy with Eats is a classic "bad business decision" based on hoped for benefits with a core business instead of a business that can stand on it's own legs. Driver and customer acquisition costs are high enough in their core business, why hemorrhage money in Eats spending to acquire drivers for it? In hopes that keeps some percentage as Uber drivers?

swozey 8y ago

UberEats brought a kind of a consistent experience to what-ever-i-want-food-delivery. I researched this stuff heavily for a food delivery startup maybe 4 years ago, met with drivers from different options (back then there weren't many, Postmates wasn't popular in TX at all) and it seemed like Eat24 and GrubHub were the big ones where I was (in terms of options, etc). Personally I can't believe Favor didn't absolutely bomb but I digress and great work guys. The experience was absolutely awful back then. That's why I wanted to get into it. You'd have restaurants on FOO that didn't even know they were on FOO, so you'd make an order then FOO would literally call in and place the order acting like a customer doing a regular pickup (possibly screwing it up). Then FOO would find a delivery person in that area, like around college towns they'd call the local delivery food couriers and pay them to go pick it up. They'd make deals with groups and have to switch them out constantly. If one courier closed at 9 but your ordering at 11 who knows who would be delivering the food if you got it at all. I don't know how many times my food vanished into the night and I just never heard anything. The experience absolutely sucked. And a transaction that can already be rife with issues (restaurant forgetting an item, etc) now had even more possibility of giving the customer a bad experience. Now it's not all perfect now and there's definitely issues and always will be but UberEats actually seems to have forced some sort of standardization upon the entire process and the competitors have really had to just GET BETTER in general because of it. I can see my driver, see their GPS, the menu tells me if something is out of stock, the restaurant controls their menu, the restaurant knows it's UberEats, etc. From the restaurant perspective they get to tap into UberEats population, use their drivers which is a streamlined process, UberEats has it's own software to see analytics, the popularity of their dishes, etc. I could've been the Food Delivery King but I decided to work on a SAAS! C'est la vie. Kidding. I'd probably just be bankrupt now. "What if Uber, Yelp and Facebook get into this?" was never a thought that crossed my mind..

ExactoKnight 8y ago
SkipTheDishes provides an objectively better user experience than UberEats, especially with the Apple Pay integration.
- swozey 8y ago

julianozen 8y ago

Also, Uber’s are popular during commute hours, but in city deliver is popular during business hours. Uber eats picks up during meals. Different services leverage the same fleet at different times of the day