Uber Technologies Inc. will soon launch food delivery service UberEATS in India, Uber started UberEATS in 2014 as a delivery pilot in Los Angeles. The service has since been expanded to 58 cities across the globe, including New York, Paris and Seattle.
Bringing UberEATS to India is a significant investment, it spans multiple cities and regions, and it has the potential to change the food industry—with the push of a button—in one of the most vibrant food cultures in the world,” Allen Penn, the Asia-Pacific head of UberEATS.
This service works on two models, in some of the older markets, such as Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, consumers can choose from the entire menu of the restaurants, some of the newer markets offer consumers an instant delivery menu—essentially a list of curated items that can be ordered quickly.
The world’s most valuable start-up at $68 billion, Uber has so far raised about $11.4 billion in debt and equity from a clutch of investors including Morgan Stanley, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Investments.
The firm has branched out to food delivery, long-haul freight and a local-delivery service for businesses called
Ola, Uber’s biggest local competition in the ride-hailing segment, had started a food and grocery delivery business early 2015. The company shut both verticals in March last year, after they failed to meet expectations.
According to industry experts, the average order value for food in the US is around $20, about four times more than the average Rs300 (about $4-5) in India. As a result, delivery firms in India, which charge clients a commission of 10-20% of the order value, end up losing money as each delivery costs more than Rs50.
