Uber Direct Expands Reach with Deliverect Partnership
Albertsons Flash, Yelp's Diversity, Autoworkers Strike
Ahh, Friday - you’ve just about made it! Cruise through to the weekend with some Uber-Deliverect, Albertsons, Yelp and UAW news…
Today:
Deliverect Launches Uber Direct Partnership
Albertsons Speeds up with Flash Delivery
Chart Time | Yelp’s (Lack of) Diversity Metrics
Striiiiike! Autoworkers Latest to Flex Labor Muscle
3PD | Uber Direct Scores Deliverect Partnership
Uber Direct and Deliverect announced a new partnership today, as Deliverect Dispatch will now offer restaurateurs white label delivery through Uber Direct’s armada of couriers. This ties in to Deliverect’s order, menu and delivery management tools, as well as its existing POS integrations. Based out of Brussels, Deliverect currently has over 43,000 business clients.
The Big Picture: Deliverect is a bigger player in the European market, although it has started making inroads to America; currently it counts brands like Taco Bell, Burger King, and Unilever as users, across 42 worldwide markets. Through this win-win partnership, Uber gets a new distribution tool into the competitive EU market, while Deliverect gets an expanded offering that makes its software more appealing in America.
GROCERY | Albertsons Premieres Flash 30-Min Delivery
Albertsons just rolled out a new rapid delivery service — Flash — offering delivery and Drive Up & Go curbside pickup orders in as little as 30 minutes. The new service is live at 2,000+ locations, including its Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Acme banners. Customers can order up to 35 items, with the exact delivery radius flexing with availability (and creeping up to 50 minutes in some locales.) Delivery costs a not-cheap $11.95, or $3.95 for pickup — FreshPass subscription members knock that down to $2 and free respectively.
The Big Picture: Evidently Albertson’s isn’t too tied up in its merger talks to keep innovating: this new service, rolled out so widely, is an impressive jump from the standard two-hour delivery it’s been offering nationwide. It also shows Instacart that it needs to worry about in-house innovation, and not just Uber / DoorDash, with this service basically matching the speed of IC’s Priority Delivery. While 15-minute delivery might be a thing of the past, it looks like 30-minute is the new gold standard…
CHART TIME | Yelp Shares Diversity Metrics
Yelp put out a blog post reflecting “Five Years of Progress” and the results are… kinda meh? The company’s leadership is 61% white, which is actually less diverse than the country overall (58.9% non-hispanic white) not to mention far less diverse than the composition of the company’s hometown of San Francisco (37.9% non-hispanic white.)
VEHICLES | Autoworkers Go On Strike
America’s “hot labor summer” has reached a boiling point, as the United Auto Workers have walked out from their plants after their existing contract expired. Not all 145,000 members are on the lines currently, the union has started with picketing three plants, one for each of the three major American automakers. The UAW is asking for a 20% immediate raise, followed by four 5% raises; Ford and GM have countered with 20% total, Stellantis is offering 17.5%. With $825 million in its strike fund, the union has the firepower to make this labor action a big one.
The Big Picture: The initial strike locations make many of the automakers’ popular and profitable pickup trucks. But as it expands, expect to see more vehicles affected, like Ford’s Transit van, made in Kansas City. (Stellantis makes its Ram Promaster van in Mexico, so that one may stay available, if the component supply chain holds up.) As 3PD gig workers often make use of lower cost vehicles, it’s worth watching how a cut in new vehicle supply might spill over to increased demand for used vehicles — could we see more couriers pushed into using ebikes and scooters instead?
A Few Good Links
Kroger pauses rollout of new Ocado-powered automated automated fulfillment centers. NYT explores Instacart’s revenue diversification. Instacart raises target share price after ARM’s strong IPO results. Gently and DeliverZero bring sustainable delivery packaging to LA. Bodily injury insurance costs up 66% since 2020. Amazon launches new Buy with Prime merchant tools.
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