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Uber Experiments With A Courier Service In New York City
- DenverR 13y agoI was expecting the service to utilize uber drivers between picking up and dropping of traditional customers the same way commercial jets carry airfreight. None the less I think it will be interesting to see if business will switch to uber from their traditional couriers.
- jomohrer 13y agoIn NYC where parking is scarce, bikes and runners make more sense than cars for the kind of service we're looking to offer.
- ulfw 13y agoOh that's uber innovative.
- untog 13y agoInteresting idea, but it feels very weird to have it in the Uber taxi app. They need to get a better strategy if they want to continue diversifying.
- bertil 13y agoI’m assuming that it’s something to launch and test the offer. Once they’ve cleared a few assumptions (Is it the same customer base as historical coursier, i.e. office managers, or like Uber, are they addressing a new group?) they will most likely launch a separate interface: Facebook has done that quite well with regards to its messaging service. Following Amazon Dash, it might not even be an app.
- DTV 13y agoIs it a no questions asked delivery as long as it is within the size limit? (Drugs?)
- dobbsbob 13y agoThis is the first thing that popped into my mind when I read it was a 24/7 delivery service for only $15.
- xgarland 13y agoI would not be surprised if they scoop up and acquire Postmates in the next 12-18 months.
- jaredmck 13y agoThis should be interesting - especially with all the delivery startups which were created following uber's success.
- jacalata 13y agoCan I send my kids to daycare through this? How is it different to existing courier services - just has a better consumer reach, or will it be cheaper/available where couriers are not today? Are they disrupting any existing regulation? Is my stuff insured when they take it? Can i track the courier on a GPS?
- rezaman 13y agoYou can do this in Uber's current state. There are already people sending their kids to school with Uber.
- CPLX 13y agoThis may be a classic "bad idea" without some additional layers of security for precisely the reason you might intuit, drugs and other contraband. I have been a heavy user of courier services in the recent past (having been involved with media/PR agencies) and I know from experience that courier services in NYC do not and will not work with you if you haven't set up an account and/or don't have a physical place of business for them to pick up from. Try walking into a courier company's office with a package in hand and they won't take it from you without an established account. Granted, you could argue that makes for a business opportunity for Uber, but in my experience as a long time NYC resident when you see safety measures and precautions like that which are ubiquitous to business practices there's usually a reason, namely that if there's any way at all to take advantage of a situation in this city there will always be 11 people lined up to do it within seconds.
- wmf 13y agoUber itself requires an account, so it's not that different.