Uber Eats will now deliver you booze after buying Drizly for a cool $1.1 billion

Uber is looking to diversify the portfolio of its Uber Eats delivery service by adding booze to the list of products it covers. The ride-hailing giant has announced that it is acquiring Drizly – the top on-demand alcohol marketplace in the US – for around $1.1 billion in stock and cash. Following the acquisition, the eponymous Drizly app will continue to remain functional as usual. However, Drizly’s business will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber and its marketplace will be integrated with that of Uber Eats. 

The deal is now pending regulatory approval and will close in H1 2021

Talking about Drizly shareholders, over 90% of the deal amount will be covered by Uber common stock, while the remaining portion will be paid to them in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021 and is now pending regulatory approval. Here’s what Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said regarding the deal:

Wherever you want to go and whatever you need to get, our goal at Uber is to make people’s lives a little bit easier. That’s why we’ve been branching into new categories like groceries, prescriptions and, now, alcohol.

On paper, this sounds like a win-win strategy for both companies. With Drizly, Uber gets access to a fresh audience, a new product segment under its umbrella, and a chance to widen its portfolio of services. Drizly, on the other hand, will allow its merchant partners to exploit Uber’s huge user base, access to financial and on-road resources, and the company’s impressive routing technology too. Plus, Uber’s own rewards and subscription program benefits will now be available to Drizly partners too. 

Prior to Drizly, Uber Eats ingested Postmates meal delivery service in 2020

Back in July last year, Uber acquired meal delivery service Postmates in a deal valued at $2.65 billion after failing to acquire Grubhub. Uber had originally planned to let Postmates operate independently following the acquisition, but allowing it to leverage the ride-hailing company’s network of merchants and delivery resources.

But just over a week ago, Uber laid off over 180 Postmates workers, with founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann also leaving the company at the same time. As for Uber, it went ahead with plans of integrating Postmates’ infrastructure with that of Uber Eats.  

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Uber launches grocery delivery service in Canada and Latin America, coming to the US too

Uber has today launched a grocery delivery service in partnership with Cornershop, a company it acquired back in October last year. The grocery delivery service has been launched in select cities of Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, and will also be available in Miami and Dallas later this month.

Users will be able to order groceries using the main Uber app as well as the Uber Eats app, and get it delivered at their doorstep. In the aforementioned US cities, Eats Pass and Uber Pass members will also be able to avail free delivery on orders worth $30 or more.

And as is the case with booking a ride, users will be able to track their groceries and also opt for a contact-free delivery experience. Uber says it aims to expand the service to more cities in the US and countries across the globe in the months to come after witnessing positive results during the testing phase.

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Uber posts a staggering $2.9 billion loss in Q1 2020, but Uber Eats had a growth spurt

Uber shared its first-quarter results for the year 2020 today, and things don’t look good for its ride-hailing business. The company posted a staggering net loss of $2.9 billion, out of which write-downs accounted for $2.1 billion while $277 million came in the form of stock-based compensation expense.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted that the company’s ride business has been “hit hard by the ongoing pandemic,” which is not too surprising given the nature of Uber’s business. Overall, the company posted net revenue of $3.5 billion, which amounts to a 14% increase on a yearly basis. However, Uber Eats emerged as the silver lining.

Gross bookings for Uber Eats went up by 54% in Q1 2020. Encouraged by the positive results, Khosrowshahi mentioned that the company is focusing additional resources on Uber Eats to stage a recovery. The growth of Uber Eats is not surprising, thanks to the surge in people placing orders online as restaurants are shut down on a large scale worldwide.

Source: Uber

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Fitbit Ionic smartwatch gets its first major OS update, 14 new apps from ‘top brands’ included

The $300 Fitbit Ionic still feels a tad pricey, also lacking the robust app support of some of its rivals, though its first OS update is pretty hefty.

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Let’s get net neutral in November mailbag | #PNWeekly 280 (LIVE at 3p ET)

Enough food for a week in the fridge, enough football for a season and enough shopping for you to drop the habit. On this show, we jam about net neutrality.

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Uber adds in-app chat functionality for improved rider and driver convenience

Uber's latest global Android and iOS app update enables a feature that should have probably been available for a long time: in-app chat.

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Uber makes it a lot easier and more intuitive to request rides for friends and family

If you want to help someone who doesn't own a smartphone or that simply refuses to use the Uber app get around, a new feature makes it hassle-free.

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Tech, Earnings, and Advertising: This Week is All About the Money | #PNWeekly 238

Our podcast is racked with Super B**l commercials, earnings and failings. Mix in a little LG G6 and Watch Sport talk and you've got a show.

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