Breaking news on Prop 22 in California, plus smaller markets are finding new ways to get around in the delivery marketplace and GetUpside is partnering with Uber to save you more money on your gas. All this and more in this week’s roundup with senior RSG contributor Paula Gibbins.
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California’s gig worker Prop 22 ruled unconstitutional by superior court (Yahoo)
Summary: In a late Friday night blow to Uber, Lyft and other gig worker-centered companies, a superior court judge ruled that California’s Proposition 22, which was passed in 2020 and designed to overrule the state’s controversial AB-5 law on the employment status of gig workers, violates the state’s constitution.
My Take: This is breaking news, so there is certainly more to come, but this is big: a California judge ruled Proposition 22, violates the state’s constitution. One reason (among several) why Prop 22 can’t be enforced? Because of the clause that required 7/8 of the state legislature to support any amendments – something Harry had mentioned before as being odd and perhaps enforceable!
Regardless of your feelings about Prop 22, it does seem strange for a single judge to be able to overturn the will of the people – Prop 22 did pass with over 50% of the vote.
This is a developing story – the court’s decision will almost certainly be appealed and further legal arguments are coming. According to Sacramento Bee reporter Jeong Park, “the judge just gave a road map as to how gig companies can try again, even if Prop 22 itself is ruled unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court.”
Walt Churchill’s Market skips Instacart, hires local taxi company to deliver groceries (Toledo Blade)
Summary: You’ve probably heard of grocery delivery companies like Instacart, Shipt and DoorDash — all expanding quickly amid the pandemic and surging consumer demand for shopping convenience.
But Maumee-based Walt Churchill’s Market figured it didn’t need to strike a deal with one of the food-delivery giants when a local company could do the same job: Black & White Transportation.
The Toledo cab company began dropping off groceries for Walt Churchill’s customers a few weeks ago, said Black & White’s co-owner Scott Potter and Kunal Dawar, the grocer’s vice president of operations.
“You’ve got two family-started businesses that are looking to offer a good, honest service,” Mr. Potter said.
Mr. Potter, who has known the Churchill family for years, said he pitched the idea that his drivers and vans could serve as the grocer’s delivery service. Black & White had already been dropping off prescriptions for Walt Churchill’s customers over the past few months….
My Take: This is kinda cool. I like hearing new solutions to problems. If you’re not happy with your options, find something that works better for you.
I don’t know that this particular fix would work for all markets, but good for this guy for finding something that works better.
Wondering if this is possible for new competitors to Uber and Lyft? Take a look at our Uber competitors article here – Can These Startups Dethrone Uber & Lyft?
Uber and GetUpside Announce Partnership to Provide Cashback on Fuel & Convenience Store Purchases for Drivers and Delivery People on the Uber App (Business Wire)
Summary: Uber and GetUpside announced today that they are teaming up to make GetUpside’s fuel and convenience store promotions available to drivers and delivery people on the Uber platform nationwide.
The partnership began earlier this month with an exclusive GetUpside promotion for drivers on the Uber platform: an extra 35¢ per gallon cash back on the first 2 fill-ups for first-time users on the GetUpside app*, and up to 25¢ per gallon** back at every fill-up thereafter. Drivers can also save inside convenience stores, earning up to 22% cashback on their total check. Drivers can now download the GetUpside app for free to access these promotions, and the two companies have plans to grow the partnership in the coming months.
“We are constantly asking those who drive and deliver with Uber for their feedback on ways to improve the experience on the platform,” said Carrol Chang, Head of Driver Operations for the U.S. & Canada at Uber. “Fuel and convenience store discounts were among the most requested, and we’re thrilled to be able to incorporate driver feedback into this partnership, which will give them the access to save at the pump as well as in-store purchases they have told us they want.”…
My Take: Overall, it makes sense that these two would partner together. But drivers definitely had some questions when this was announced.
We posted about it on our Facebook page and here’s what our readers had to say:
Chris C. said, “I’ve earned a ton with GetUpside. But this “deal” with Uber is no different from every advertisement GetUpside runs. Benefit your fellow drivers by requesting a referral code in your local rideshare/gig Facebook group, rather than your referral dollars going into Uber’s pockets!”
If you want to take Chris’ advice, sign up for GetUpside using our referral link here!
And Tona P. said, “I already have upside. Yes I’m earning some money but not enough to make the difference on the gas I have to spend.”
We’re fans of the GetUpside app here at RSG, and we love saving money anywhere we can. Overall, it’s never savory for drivers when Uber dips their hand in something that’s already working well. But, overall, this might end up saving drivers a little more, so hopefully it’ll be good.
Celebrating 2 Billion DoorDash Orders, Thanks to You (DoorDash)
Summary: If you didn’t have a chance to tune into our quarterly earnings call, or read to the end of our shareholder letter last week, you may have missed some exciting news: on August 3, 2021, we reached a new company milestone, fulfilling two billion orders.
It took us over seven years to complete our first billion orders, from the founding of DoorDash in 2013 to achieving that earlier landmark in October 2020. From then on, it took just over nine months to complete one billion more––a feat that would not have been possible without any one of our employee, Dasher, merchant, and consumer communities. We are incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together.
From April through June 2021, over 3 million people dashed, with more first time Dashers using the DoorDash platform than ever before. At the same time, we saw consumers around the globe using DoorDash to order more than ever, from thousands of the restaurants they love, but also from new merchants across so many other categories, including convenience, pet, grocery stores, and more….
My Take: Wow! 2 billion orders is huge. Remember when McDonald’s announced it had completed 2 billion orders? It seems like it took them forever to get to that point and DoorDash did it in less than 10 years.
Do you have any local competitors to Uber, Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash or other big name brands? If so, how do they fare compared to the big names?
-Paula @ RSG
