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Uber Eats gained ground incredibly rapidly on other delivery options in my market, and then basically just as rapidly has lost it to DoorDash in the last couple

Uber Eats gained ground incredibly rapidly on other delivery options in my market, and then basically just as rapidly has lost it to DoorDash in the last couple years. It's very curious - did they just initially light money on fire for market share and now are suffering because DoorDash was willing to do the same to them? Or is there some deeper difference?

debacle 5y ago
Building a market is expensive. If you don't have to recoup that expense, you can outcompete those that do.
MattGaiser 5y ago
I used to use Uber Eats and mostly moved to DoorDash. DoorDash throws gobs and gobs of deals at me. I can order 2-3 times a week and use a coupon every time. I return to Uber Eats only when they give me 30% off or something.
leetcrew 5y ago
uber eats orders come out to be much more expensive than door dash, grubhub, etc. idk why this is the case, but this is why I don't usually use uber eats. they do usually have a better selection of restaurants, I'll give them that.
darth_avocado 5y ago
One answer: Dashpass. For more frequent users it was a game changer, no delivery fees from even far off places and very low overall fees. And partner with credit cards to give it away for free and suddenly you have a massive customer base with recurring revenue. A customer base that will order more because suddenly delivery isn’t that expensive
- majormajor 5y ago
  I have the Uber Eats version of that free from my Amex and yet I find myself using DoorDash w/o a subscription more. Uber lost some restaurants I liked, and even with the pass hasn't been substantially cheaper!
- jackson1442 5y ago
  I know UE has the Eats Pass-- did they lag behind Doordash quite a bit adding this? I know that at least for a while the Eats Pass was restricted to your metro- if you buy an Austin Eats Pass it doesn't work in DFW, etc.
- dastbe 5y ago
  > And partner with credit cards to give it away for free yeah, with dashpass being free for the entirety of the pandemic if you had the top chase card, having a lower mimimum, and lowering fees by more compared to eats pass its really hard not take that VC subsidized delivery.
  - opportune 5y ago
    It’s often significantly cheaper for me to order takeout through DoorDash with all the promos/rebates/points than to call in an order with the restaurant themselves. I’m sure this isn’t all subsidies and is likely Doordash squeezing the restaurant in some way (eg forcing them to accept a lower margin on doordash orders, not letting them charge differently on their own vs through doordash for the same items, etc) but it’s pretty good for the consumer in the short term. I’ve also had some insane deals for grocery and convenience store deliveries where the cost of food + delivery inclusive of all fees was less than if I had gone to pick it up myself. If you’re buying frozen or shelf stable food that’s almost like free money.
    - darth_avocado 5y ago
      Yeah ALL delivery services charge consumers AND restaurants for every order. However, DD I've heard is less predatory as compared to UE (They have tiered structure that the restaurant can choose from. It's not only good for consumers, but also some restaurants as delivery services are a gift for restaurants that don't have much of a in place dining experience to offer.
snapetom 5y ago
In my market, Uber Eats was pretty limited in restaurant options from Day 1 and DoorDash blew them away quickly. I haven't checked in recently on UE to see as a whole how it's doing in terms of options. However, I know my favorite restaurant is still just DD.

debacle 5y ago

Building a market is expensive. If you don't have to recoup that expense, you can outcompete those that do.

MattGaiser 5y ago

I used to use Uber Eats and mostly moved to DoorDash. DoorDash throws gobs and gobs of deals at me. I can order 2-3 times a week and use a coupon every time. I return to Uber Eats only when they give me 30% off or something.

leetcrew 5y ago

uber eats orders come out to be much more expensive than door dash, grubhub, etc. idk why this is the case, but this is why I don't usually use uber eats. they do usually have a better selection of restaurants, I'll give them that.

darth_avocado 5y ago

One answer: Dashpass. For more frequent users it was a game changer, no delivery fees from even far off places and very low overall fees. And partner with credit cards to give it away for free and suddenly you have a massive customer base with recurring revenue. A customer base that will order more because suddenly delivery isn’t that expensive

majormajor 5y ago
I have the Uber Eats version of that free from my Amex and yet I find myself using DoorDash w/o a subscription more. Uber lost some restaurants I liked, and even with the pass hasn't been substantially cheaper!
jackson1442 5y ago
I know UE has the Eats Pass-- did they lag behind Doordash quite a bit adding this? I know that at least for a while the Eats Pass was restricted to your metro- if you buy an Austin Eats Pass it doesn't work in DFW, etc.
dastbe 5y ago
> And partner with credit cards to give it away for free yeah, with dashpass being free for the entirety of the pandemic if you had the top chase card, having a lower mimimum, and lowering fees by more compared to eats pass its really hard not take that VC subsidized delivery.
- opportune 5y ago
  It’s often significantly cheaper for me to order takeout through DoorDash with all the promos/rebates/points than to call in an order with the restaurant themselves. I’m sure this isn’t all subsidies and is likely Doordash squeezing the restaurant in some way (eg forcing them to accept a lower margin on doordash orders, not letting them charge differently on their own vs through doordash for the same items, etc) but it’s pretty good for the consumer in the short term. I’ve also had some insane deals for grocery and convenience store deliveries where the cost of food + delivery inclusive of all fees was less than if I had gone to pick it up myself. If you’re buying frozen or shelf stable food that’s almost like free money.
  - darth_avocado 5y ago
    Yeah ALL delivery services charge consumers AND restaurants for every order. However, DD I've heard is less predatory as compared to UE (They have tiered structure that the restaurant can choose from. It's not only good for consumers, but also some restaurants as delivery services are a gift for restaurants that don't have much of a in place dining experience to offer.

snapetom 5y ago

In my market, Uber Eats was pretty limited in restaurant options from Day 1 and DoorDash blew them away quickly. I haven't checked in recently on UE to see as a whole how it's doing in terms of options. However, I know my favorite restaurant is still just DD.