It’s becoming more and more clear that Uber is not satisfied with simply carting people around.
The on-demand car service, which has been valued at over $40 billion, is gearing up to make a big push into the delivery game. TechCrunch is reporting that Uber is planning to launch a same-day delivery service with hundreds of merchants signed-on at kickoff.
According to sources, Uber has already talked with over 400 retailers – some high-end like Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany’s.
Uber reportedly has a separate app for these merchant deliveries – apart from the flagship Uber app. But the ultimate goal is to give Uber drivers the ability to pick up goods and passengers from the same app.
Uber had this to say about the report:
“Experimenting and finding new, creative ways for the Uber app to provide even greater value to our riders and driver partners is a way of life at Uber. We have been piloting UberRUSH with multiple retailers for the last year.”
Experimenting with product delivery isn’t something new for Uber. In 2014, the company debuted UberRUSH, a courier service that allowed bike messengers to deliver packages to destinations in Manhattan and recently New Jersey.
And just this week, Uber announced it’s expanding its UberEATS service to New York City and Chicago. The service, which allows users to order food from select eateries for a small ($3-$4) delivery fee, was first tested in Los Angeles and Barcelona.