Uber and Instacart surprised us this week, announcing a partnership to try to challenge the market hold that DoorDash claims in the delivery field.
Meanwhile, Instacart poaches Uber vet for CFO position, Minneapolis announces a deal, and Uber makes some promises.
Join RSG Contributor Paula Lemar as she breaks down the top headlines in this week’s rideshare news.
Uber and Instacart Team Up on Restaurant Deliveries, Challenging DoorDash
Topic Originally Appeared On Bloomberg
Summary
Instacart is partnering with Uber Technologies Inc. to offer restaurant delivery through the Instacart app — taking on the top US food delivery app, DoorDash, Inc.
Instacart users in the US will be able to order from hundreds of thousands of restaurants using an Uber Eats interface that will become available within the Instacart app sometime in the coming weeks.
Orders will be fulfilled by Uber’s couriers, while grocery delivery will remain separate and operated by Instacart.
“You could say that we’re a threat to DoorDash both independently and teaming up as well,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg’s Emily Chang in an exclusive joint interview with Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.
“This is a highly, highly competitive marketplace. The beauty of this partnership is that both Instacart and Uber can continue to grow their business.”
My Take
Will this be more beneficial to Uber or Instacart? Or is it actually mutually beneficial? Can they actually take on DoorDash, or does DoorDash already have a footing in the market that is too good?
I had thought that Instacart and Lyft should team up when things were looking shaky for both companies, but Lyft’s CEO has said they won’t enter the food delivery service, so it’ll continue to be ruled by DoorDash, Uber, and Instacart.
Instacart has been a pretty solid company for gig workers over the years. Brush up on how to be an Instacart Shopper with Harry’s article Working for Instacart: What Can Shoppers Expect?
Also, learn How to Make $1000 a Week With Instacart. RSG contributor Joe has a great video helping you transition from Uber to Instacart.
Interested in becoming an Instacart Shopper? Sign up today!
Instacart Taps Uber Vet for CFO Job as Revenue Beats Estimates
Topic Originally Appeared On Bloomberg (Archive)
Summary
Instacart elevated a former Uber Technologies Inc. veteran to chief financial officer, replacing Nick Giovanni, who is retiring. The grocery delivery company also reported first-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates.
Emily Reuter, who joined Instacart as vice president of finance six months ago, will take on the new role this week, Instacart said in a statement. Giovanni, who helped shepherd Instacart through its initial public offering last year, is retiring after three years at the company.
Reuter was previously head of corporate finance at Uber, which operates a similar gig economy marketplace and only became full-year profitable for the first time in 2023.
My Take
With the new partnership with Instacart, this development makes even more sense. Bringing in a seasoned Uber finance guru to be the new CFO at Instacart while this partnership gets off the ground, should help get things going smoothly.
Not that long ago, Instacart was on shaky ground after going public at a much lower monetary value than they were expecting.
DFL Leaders, Minneapolis Announce Deal On Rideshare Pay
Topic Originally Appeared On CBS
Summary
Key lawmakers and DFL legislative leaders announced on Monday that they had a compromise on statewide rideshare regulations in Minnesota, but Uber and Lyft quickly rejected the plan and said that they would still exit the market if the proposal became law.
The amendment, which will be heard in a House committee on Tuesday, includes a minimum wage pay rate of $1.27 per mile and 49 cents per minute.
Leaders said they worked with the Minneapolis City Council to find a compromise, but the companies were not included in the negotiations.
The proposal is lower than the Minneapolis rate of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute. However, a study done by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry determined that $0.89 mile and $0.49 for the Twin Cities metro would bring driver pay up to the city’s minimum wage of $15.57 an hour.
My Take
Are we surprised that the compromise is still not good enough for Uber and Lyft?
The question though is if they really will leave Minneapolis if this is enacted. I know they threatened before with the previous stipulations, but who knows? They threatened to leave California in the past and have threatened similar in the past.
Granted, Minneapolis is not the largest market in the United States, yet Uber and Lyft hold a significant impact on the current transportation trends there.
It would be pretty devastating to have them disappear from the market, even if other, lesser-known or unknown rideshare companies are ready to take their place.
Uber Promises Member Exclusives As Uber One Passes $1B Run-Rate
Topic Originally Appeared On TechCrunch
Summary
Uber plans to deliver more perks to Uber One members, like member-exclusive events, in a bid to gain more revenue through subscriptions.
“You will see more member-exclusives coming up where members have exclusive access to events and experiences, which will kind of surprise and delight our members,” said Uber’s chief financial officer, Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, Wednesday morning during Uber’s first-quarter earnings call.
Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said Uber One’s membership fees are “in excess of $1 billion” run-rate. In other words, Uber is extrapolating its current subscription revenue to estimate $1 billion in annual revenue.
This is the first time Uber has shared run-rate numbers on its subscription service, which was introduced in November 2021.
My Take
Uber One could be better advertised, in my opinion. I literally just had a conversation with a friend where she was asking if Uber One or Uber Eats was the thing she wanted to click on to order food.
She had no idea that Uber One was a subscription service that would give her perks when ordering Ubers or ordering food on Uber Eats.
It’s great that Uber is continuing to get more perks added to their subscription service because if it doesn’t seem like enough for someone to sign up, it’s not exactly encouraging customer loyalty if someone doesn’t sign up for it.
When Uber and Lyft Do NOT Have to Compete
Topic Originally Appeared On TikTok
Well, one example is what’s going on in Minneapolis right now. Uber and Lyft are teaming up to combat legislation that could help the drivers who work for their platforms get better wages.
Tune into Show Me The Money Club live every Tuesday at 6 pm est/3 pm pst to keep up-to-date with the latest rideshare news as discussed by RSG’s Chris and Sergio.
Must Listen Or Watch RSG Content
Here are this week’s featured podcast episode and YouTube videos:
- RSG254: Curbivore Preview With Jonah Bliss
- Digging Into Uber’s Driver/Rider Matching Algorithm Patent – Show Me The Money Club
- CO Transparency Bill Is Here! Drivers Get YOUR Voices Heard!!
- Will Uber And Lyft Leave Minneapolis?
- The Rideshare Guy en Español
- Make sure you Subscribe so you don’t miss out on future conversations and interviews!