8 ms·

Introducing Eats for Business

77 points by kposehn 8y ago

simonsarris 8y ago
Would be very amusing if they started cooking up this program because SF proposed their cafeteria ban.
btown 8y ago
This speaks to one of the most profound things about Uber: once an infrastructure of transportation workers is set up, a single software development project can instantly transform the value of that network no matter how large it is. Many metropolitan areas, I’d imagine, would love to incentivize their resident corporations to spend more money on local food services (those “late night food allowances” are greater than what the finance firm’s employees would spend themselves) but can neither justify the development costs nor provide upside as an incentive. Hardware meets wetware meets capitalism. It’s both a thing of beauty and a little saddening at the same time.
contingencies 8y ago
Say you want to last minute cater for a small meeting or conference. Suddenly adding a 15 meal or 30 dish demand in to an existing fulfillment network is not going to result in 15 minute service, or even under 1 hour service. It's going to train wreck.
dominotw 8y ago
hopefully has better selection than fooda.
jtokoph 8y ago
Uber still can’t get consumer Eats right. My last order roamed the city for 30 minutes before arriving cold. The order before that was stolen by the driver. They picked it up and left San Francisco. Good luck getting an Uber driver to carry up 5 catering trays plus utensils and sides for your office. Maybe there’s a chance if Uber gives every driver a foldable cart that fits in the trunk without taking up luggage space for airport Uber rides.
- user5994461 8y ago
  I never ever had this problem in London and I never heard of any friend having it either. If it's like the Taxi app, there is a button in a corner of the app to report and they will refund you.
- benatkin 8y ago
  That doesn't mean they can't get business eats right. Your experience is probably a win for them, it means they're getting a lot of drivers of varying quality. Also if you complained about it, that helps them to deactivate drivers that steal food and improve their process (they can probably keep ones that make the food cold, some don't mind (like me, at least for most types of foods and if I'm eating by myself) and some will just use a microwave). If they only had high quality drivers, they wouldn't be the growth company that they are. For businesses they can change it up, maybe even hire W2 employees. And they can even have a good experience in places that get press like SF and a mediocre experience for places outside of it. Only a handful of decision makers will judge their business service based on their consumer performance or performance in other markets. They also have name recognition - nobody got fired for buying Microsoft.
  - cyphar 8y ago
    It's weird how positive you are about a business venture failing at the only thing that they are required to do -- bring you food in a timely fashion. "Your experience is probably a win for them" is a very strange way to prioritise what's important when running a business -- unhappy customers are a win somehow? > If they only had high quality drivers, they [...] ... would actually be a good service? > nobody got fired for buying Microsoft. IBM, not Microsoft.
    - geofft 8y ago
      The thing that's important when running a business is making money. Having happy repeat customers is one way to do this, but there are many others. Having unhappy customers and crushing the competition is another. Having a steady stream of new customers is another (see also, MLM schemes). Selling a product where customers cannot meaningfully evaluate quality is another (see also, Facebook video marketing). If you don't like it, help the rest of us figure out a sustainable alternative to capitalism.
gtm1260 8y ago
Uber betting on the notch removal next year I see.
petra 8y ago
A thought experiment: Lets say they manage to offer restaurant quality food(in-spite delivery) for business lunches, at half the price of a restaurant. And let's say we see similar trends in price/quality/convenience in pre-made food for the home. How does that affect consumer behavior with regards to restaurants ? And how can a regular guy profit from such trends ?
- golergka 8y ago
  Regular guy already profits from such trends when he orders from Uber and similar services. I know that I profit every day when I use taxi at with higher quality and lower price than 10 years ago. Or you can always set up a ghost kitchen - they're about to boom all around the world, I'd guess.
  - mooreds 8y ago
    If you do set up a ghost kitchen, would suggest you do some research first. Lots of laws and insurance and marketing and logistics. I was co-founder of a startup for a few years heavily involved in this space ( https://www.thefoodcorridor.com https://www.thefoodcorridor.com ) and running a kitchen is not for the faint of heart. In fact, being anywhere in food is not (I also have a relative who runs a couple of food businesses). Lots of cash flow, but skinny margins.
    - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
      I used to think that. But then all these food-delivery services with around 100% markup showed up and seem to be thriving
      - mooreds 8y ago
        Ah, being in software around food is great. It's just like the other parts of the food chain. Being a primary producer or a end retailer are very low margin businesses, but being in the middle can be healthy.
      - 8y ago
jypepin 8y ago
There is a lot of hate about this, but most comments actually sound like the OP didn't even read the article. According to the article this is not going to be a catering service where 1 order brings food for the whole company, but an integration of Eats into Uber for Business. > a way for organizations to use Uber Eats to manage food delivery for employees, whether they’re ordering to the office or traveling for work. So it just basically something allowing people to order food _for themselves_ while having a part of the order automatically paid by the company. So, no issues here of driver having to "carry up 5 catering trays plus utensils and sides for your office." like the top comment said. This is barely just a new payment system basically. [full disclosure: I used to work at Uber, but not on Eats]

77 points by kposehn 8y ago

Would be very amusing if they started cooking up this program because SF proposed their cafeteria ban.

This speaks to one of the most profound things about Uber: once an infrastructure of transportation workers is set up, a single software development project can instantly transform the value of that network no matter how large it is. Many metropolitan areas, I’d imagine, would love to incentivize their resident corporations to spend more money on local food services (those “late night food allowances” are greater than what the finance firm’s employees would spend themselves) but can neither justify the development costs nor provide upside as an incentive. Hardware meets wetware meets capitalism. It’s both a thing of beauty and a little saddening at the same time.

contingencies 8y ago

Say you want to last minute cater for a small meeting or conference. Suddenly adding a 15 meal or 30 dish demand in to an existing fulfillment network is not going to result in 15 minute service, or even under 1 hour service. It's going to train wreck.

dominotw 8y ago

hopefully has better selection than fooda.

jtokoph 8y ago

Uber still can’t get consumer Eats right. My last order roamed the city for 30 minutes before arriving cold. The order before that was stolen by the driver. They picked it up and left San Francisco. Good luck getting an Uber driver to carry up 5 catering trays plus utensils and sides for your office. Maybe there’s a chance if Uber gives every driver a foldable cart that fits in the trunk without taking up luggage space for airport Uber rides.

user5994461 8y ago
I never ever had this problem in London and I never heard of any friend having it either. If it's like the Taxi app, there is a button in a corner of the app to report and they will refund you.
benatkin 8y ago
That doesn't mean they can't get business eats right. Your experience is probably a win for them, it means they're getting a lot of drivers of varying quality. Also if you complained about it, that helps them to deactivate drivers that steal food and improve their process (they can probably keep ones that make the food cold, some don't mind (like me, at least for most types of foods and if I'm eating by myself) and some will just use a microwave). If they only had high quality drivers, they wouldn't be the growth company that they are. For businesses they can change it up, maybe even hire W2 employees. And they can even have a good experience in places that get press like SF and a mediocre experience for places outside of it. Only a handful of decision makers will judge their business service based on their consumer performance or performance in other markets. They also have name recognition - nobody got fired for buying Microsoft.
- cyphar 8y ago
  It's weird how positive you are about a business venture failing at the only thing that they are required to do -- bring you food in a timely fashion. "Your experience is probably a win for them" is a very strange way to prioritise what's important when running a business -- unhappy customers are a win somehow? > If they only had high quality drivers, they [...] ... would actually be a good service? > nobody got fired for buying Microsoft. IBM, not Microsoft.
  - geofft 8y ago
    The thing that's important when running a business is making money. Having happy repeat customers is one way to do this, but there are many others. Having unhappy customers and crushing the competition is another. Having a steady stream of new customers is another (see also, MLM schemes). Selling a product where customers cannot meaningfully evaluate quality is another (see also, Facebook video marketing). If you don't like it, help the rest of us figure out a sustainable alternative to capitalism.

gtm1260 8y ago

Uber betting on the notch removal next year I see.

petra 8y ago

A thought experiment: Lets say they manage to offer restaurant quality food(in-spite delivery) for business lunches, at half the price of a restaurant. And let's say we see similar trends in price/quality/convenience in pre-made food for the home. How does that affect consumer behavior with regards to restaurants ? And how can a regular guy profit from such trends ?

golergka 8y ago
Regular guy already profits from such trends when he orders from Uber and similar services. I know that I profit every day when I use taxi at with higher quality and lower price than 10 years ago. Or you can always set up a ghost kitchen - they're about to boom all around the world, I'd guess.
- mooreds 8y ago
  If you do set up a ghost kitchen, would suggest you do some research first. Lots of laws and insurance and marketing and logistics. I was co-founder of a startup for a few years heavily involved in this space ( https://www.thefoodcorridor.com https://www.thefoodcorridor.com ) and running a kitchen is not for the faint of heart. In fact, being anywhere in food is not (I also have a relative who runs a couple of food businesses). Lots of cash flow, but skinny margins.
  - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
    I used to think that. But then all these food-delivery services with around 100% markup showed up and seem to be thriving
    - mooreds 8y ago
      Ah, being in software around food is great. It's just like the other parts of the food chain. Being a primary producer or a end retailer are very low margin businesses, but being in the middle can be healthy.
    - 8y ago

jypepin 8y ago

There is a lot of hate about this, but most comments actually sound like the OP didn't even read the article. According to the article this is not going to be a catering service where 1 order brings food for the whole company, but an integration of Eats into Uber for Business. > a way for organizations to use Uber Eats to manage food delivery for employees, whether they’re ordering to the office or traveling for work. So it just basically something allowing people to order food _for themselves_ while having a part of the order automatically paid by the company. So, no issues here of driver having to "carry up 5 catering trays plus utensils and sides for your office." like the top comment said. This is barely just a new payment system basically. [full disclosure: I used to work at Uber, but not on Eats]