Uber launches its first stand-alone app and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with rides. Called UberEATS, the ride service company will now deliver you food efficiently and quickly.
UberEATS is a new food-ordering app that will let your order food and track its progress while waiting for it to arrive. Sadly though, UberEATS is only available in Toronto as of this time and only iOS users can avail it.
The Verge reports that UberEATS as an added feature in the Uber app is only available in 12 cities. You have one meal option from a maximum of three restaurants each day. Toronto is so lucky that it gets to order anything from the menus of over 100 participating restaurants. More so, delivery is reported free for the rest of December. You can also opt for their super fast delivery of fewer than 10 minutes for an extra fee.
"Toronto's world class food and tech scenes make it the perfect global launch city for the new app," Bowie Cheung, general manager of UberEverything in Toronto, writes in a blog post. "And Torontonians like you - who've embraced UberEats from the beginning - are the perfect ones to try it first."
The launching of UberEATS is significant as the company moves ahead to be the future of logistics business. Uber is reported to be worth $62.5 billion as according to Wired. With this spinoff app, Uber will attempt to move anything anywhere. This may imply that Uber will follow a portfolio strategy for its apps - building spinoff software for each type of service. Just as what Facebook has done with its Messenger.
"We felt we needed to resist the urge to overcomplicate things," said Jason Droege Head of Uber Everything. Yes, that's his real title, and it means he's in charge of every service that doesn't transport people.
"With Uber, you hit a button, get a ride. When you think of thousands of meals, all of a sudden that experience starts to need its own world to make it as simple as possible."
Companies like Seamless and Postmates already have a head start and other companies like Amazon and Square are also joining in the game. It now raises questions if UberEATS may have the same success that it achieved in the taxi industry.
