Serve Rolls Out New Robots
Uber and Glovo add lists, Dashers gain features, JET down in Q3
New robots, new ways to share your favorite restaurants and new features for gig workers — we’ve got plenty to dig into today!
PS — Don’t forget to join us tomorrow in Culver City for our LA TechWeek Mobility & Delivery Happy Hour. Ready your best pitch deck and RSVP Now.
Today:
Meet Serve’s Newest Robots
Uber, Glovo Add Shareable Lists
Chart Time | Just Eat Takeaway Struggles Through Q3
DoorDash Adds Features for Dashers
AUTONOMY | Serve Releases Third Generation Delivery Bots
San Francisco-based Serve Robotics rolled out new hardware this morning, unveiling its third generation autonomous delivery robots. The new bots are twice as fast, have double the range, and can carry more goods — up to four 16-inch pizzas — than the previous version; Serve hopes to deploy 2,000 of the new units through 2025. On the safety side, these robots can stop 40% quicker than the past model, and are powered by Nvidia’s Jetson Orin module with 5x more on-board computing power, plus Ouster’s new REV7 lidar.
The Big Picture: Serve claims these new units are cheaper to build, which should help it ramp up production — the company’s been looking to hit that 2k unit threshold for some time now. Part of that expansion hinges on entering new markets: our money’s on an expansion to Dallas, a region teased in the company’s S1 and hinted at through Serve’s recent partnership with Wing.
UX | Uber Eats and Rivals Turn to Lists
Uber Eats just unveiled a new feature to make finding the perfect meal a bit easier: lists! Now live in NYC and Chicago, these curated lists can be made and shared by everyday Joes and Janes, or by top food influencers. Launch foodies include Jeremy Jacobowitz A.K.A. Brunchboys, Ella Kahan and Emma Matarasso of Chew York City, Sam Roby of Chicago Food Authority and Cam Brenson of Bored In Chicago. Amisha Bajaj, Product Marketing Lead on Lists added “When looking for foodies to build the first Lists on Uber Eats, we knew to start with people fully immersed in the flavors of New York and Chicago’s bustling food scenes. These initial taste-makers are just that, and we’ll be on the lookout for more, so we invite local creators to start creating and sharing lists that we can discover—and ideally help to get the word out on their recommendations.”
The Big Picture: Sometimes firing up a delivery app can be overwhelming, with waaaay too many identical options bogging down the feed. Now consumers might opt for UE over its competitors if they know it’ll help them get to a tasty choice quickly. Curation is a hot sector as of late: last year Apple Maps debuted curated food lists from known heads like LA Taco’s Memo Torres and just this morning Eater launched a new app that’s also all about maps and food. Delivery Hero-owned Glovo also just debuted Picks, which layers on some rich media and social features as well.
CHART TIME | North America, Southern Europe Weigh on JET
Just Eat Takeaway.com released its Q3 trading update, showing a very mixed bag. Northern Europe and the UK & Ireland showed decent growth, while Southern Europe and ANZ dropped a worrying 12%, albeit from a small base. But North America — Grubhub and SkipTheDishes — continues to weigh on the conglomerate. All in all, GTV shrunk 3% YoY to €6.344 billion.
LABOR | DoorDash Adds Dasher-Friendly Features
DoorDash debuted seven new features aimed at improving the experience for its workforce:
Dasher Preferences: workers can now opt in and out of specific order types, like alcohol delivery
New Rewards Program: featuring new tiers and perks
DoorDash Crimson Card: a debit card with 3% cash back on gas, 2% back on EV charging and more
Revamped Referrals: now featuring region-specific offers
Dasher Relief Fund: emergency assistance grants of up to $1k
Dasher Support Hub: aiming to ease access to common questions
Improved ChatBot: it’s not 2024 if your press release doesn’t mention AI
The Big Picture: Of all the new features, the Crimson Card sounds like it’ll have the biggest impact. DoorDash Crimson will soon be available nationwide, offering not just cash back and discounts, but letting Dashers instantly access their earnings with no wait or deposit fees. And of course chatbots are all the rage these days, Uber’s big announcement last week also highlighted a new sustainability-focused AI assistant.
A Few Good Links
Dlivrd partners with Flex Catering. Fisker says failed EV data cannot be transferred, imperiling American Lease’s fleet plans. Bye bye Kmart. Uber adds Business Black. Amex closes Tock purchase. Walgreens shuttering 1200 stores. Proterra recalling electric buses. Instacart Q3 due 11/12. USPS ending dual shipping labels. Foxtrot reactivates digital services. Ghost raises $40M for surplus inventory marketplace. Supreme Court won’t hear Postmates/Uber challenge of AB5. Fin raises $7M to expand sustainable logistics to America. Zoox ups robotaxi testing. Bolt and Starship expand grocery delivery partnership. Wolt buys Romania’s Tazz. Remember Webvan? Chipotle Cultivate Next invests in supply chain platform Lumachain and Mediterranean FCR Brassica. South Africa’s roads hold promise and peril for migrant gig workers. Check out JOCO’s quadcycle in NYC. Amazon looks to merge Rx delivery operations. Park Slope Food Co-op founder hangs up his apron after 50 years.
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