Uber, Target, Walmart Add Delivery Convenience Features
DC studying worker pay, your customers are unhappy
Ooh, the big boys are brawling — Walmart, Target and Uber have all just rolled out interesting new features in the war for delivery customer dollars. And speaking of dollars, DC is studying courier pay — read on, and happy Friday!
This week’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore — 3/28-29 in DTLA.
Today:
Uber Adds Location Sharing for Deliveries
Target Adds Walmart+ Like Loyalty Plan
Chart Time | Customer Dissatisfaction
DC Mulls Delivery Worker Pay Law
3PD | Uber Ups Accuracy with Live Locations
Uber Eats is rolling out an update intended to make it easier for couriers to connect with customers, dubbed Live Locations. For customers that have opted into “meet outside” or “meet at door” drop-offs, the deliverer will see the customer’s live location once they are within 100 meters of one another. Once the delivery is complete, location sharing turns off (privacy conscious customers can also turn off the feature completely.)
The Big Picture: With summer around the corner, this feature will prove extra useful for delivery users on the go. It’s one thing if you simply want the courier to leave your food at the stoop or with the doorman, but handoff gets a lot more complicated if you’re “near the big tree at the corner of the park.” Last summer, Domino’s rolled out something similar — Pinpoint Delivery — and while it took a few months to pay off, its stock is finally once again as hot as a fresh pepperoni pie.
Meet Curbivore’s Latest Speakers — March 28 & 29 in DTLA
The entire delivery ecosystem is coming together at Curbivore, March 28 & 29, in Downtown LA’s lively Arts District. Meet with AV innovators at Starship, Waymo and Faction; hear from regulators and policy-makers at the city, transit agency, state and Federal levels; learn the latest from top execs at the major 3PDs; and nosh on street food from a James Beard nominated & LA Times “101 Best” award-winning chef.
LOYALTY | Target Chases Walmart with Circle 360
Target is debuting Circle 360, a paid membership tier to its existing loyalty system. Priced at $49 the first year and $99 each year after that (cheaper for Target’s credit card holders,) the new offering borrows a familiar playbook from Walmart and Amazon: free same-day delivery for orders of $35+ and free two-day shipping, along with other goodies like extended return periods. The program also includes access to Shipt, Target’s Instacart-like delivery platform, which normally costs $99/year on its own.
The Big Picture: Target’s announcement comes hot on the heels of its so-so FY23 results, where comp sales fell 4.4% in Q4, but drive-up, pickup and delivery bucked the larger trend by rising 14% YoY. The Minneapolis-based retailer is going to need to keep moving fast if it wants to catch up with Walmart; the Bentonville Big Boxer just debuted a delivery innovation of its own: On-Demand Early Morning Delivery. Now weary suburbanites can get hour-or-faster deliveries as early as 6 A.M.
CHART TIME | Your Delivery Customers Are Unhappy
Customer experience platform Tattle has a new annual report out, looking at CX trends across the restaurant industry. The biggest pain points are accuracy and value (no surprise) but customers also score “food quality” much lower on delivery than when they dine-in. Come on people, did you really expect the french fries to arrive crispy?!
POLICY | DC to Study Delivery Worker Pay
Washington, D.C.’s local leaders have passed a bill compelling the city to conduct a study on the pay and working conditions for 3PD workers, with a report due by July 1st, 2025. Beyond pay rates and expenses, the bill also intends to study the effect of portable benefits, something gaining traction nearby in Virginia. On the more technical side, the bill also stops 3PDs from restricting delivery radii any tighter than four miles, forbids throttling courier supply to restaurants that don’t pay higher commissions, and requires couriers to have access to the bathrooms of the restos they’re delivering for.
The Big Picture: The delivery apps seem to think DC’s approach is friendlier than the one taken 200 miles up the Acela corridor, with DoorDash noting it plans to collaborate with policymakers, as “the complex issues covered under this bill will require a broad range of stakeholders coming together.” Courier pay and working conditions have been a simmering issue in the capital for some time now, with locally-based Georgetown University releasing a report last year noting that 41% of drivers reported they had experienced assaults or harassment.
A Few Good Links
Rivians new, smaller electric trucks rack up orders quickly. DD fights hunger the SF Bay Area. DC shields restaurateurs from junk fee lawsuits. Why Wonder isn’t a food hall. eGrowcery adds design tools for supermarkets. Mad Greens talks drone delivery. DD pushes to lower fees. Potbelly sales creep up. FAT Brands’ net loss slims. El Pollo Loco net income looks leaner. 7-Eleven unveils new products, celebrates Pi Day with delivery specials. China’s Ant Group sells off stake in Indian deliverer Zomato. Kroger’s 2023 results: $3.1B operating profit on $150B in revenue. JET celebrates International Women’s Day.
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