Uber Eats couriers will start to pick orders in supermarkets as it revealed the number of shoppers who have placed a grocery order on its platform has nearly doubled in the last two years.
With ‘courier pick and pack’, customers’ orders will be matched with an Uber Eats driver who is directed to the store where an app will guide them to find the right items. The courier is able to engage with customers in real time as they walk round the store, and can ask shoppers what substitutions they want if items are out of stock.
The driver will then check out using a pre-authorised payment method before delivering the items to the customer’s doorstep.
Uber Eats works with retailers including Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in the UK.
Alongside Courier Pick and Pack, Uber is also set to launch a range of additional new products, including aisle indexing, which will give couriers the exact aisle and shelf location of the items that they are supposed to be picking to get around much faster.
It will also introduce smart item verification, which notifies a courier if the wrong item has been selected and shows them what they need to look for to get the right product.
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Couriers will also be provided with information and tips on any problems they might encounter, such as for an out of stock item or how to properly scan a barcode.
Meanwhile, the new active order adjustments will allow shoppers to easily edit their orders after they have been placed, until the courier checks out at the store.
Uber global head of grocery and retailer Susan Anderson said: “It’s very clear that grocery shopping trends have fundamentally changed. Our busy lifestyles mean we physically go to the supermarket for a big shop less frequently and prefer to rely more on apps like Uber Eats to order fresh grocery ingredients when we want them.
“In the UK, the trend is fascinating in the way it reflects people’s desire to eat healthily – and their increasing familiarity with using our tech to make their lives easier. We’ve become a global leader in the field, and is the reason why we are launching new products like courier pick and pack, which we believe will change the way that people shop for groceries.”
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