For finding a new way to travel for millions of people in more than 300 cities，Uber Technologies (hereinafter referred to as "Uber") has become one of the most highly valued startups in the world。However，The company’s efforts to use the same model to disrupt the express delivery industry have struggled。

Over the past year，The San Francisco-based company has been working hard to build what its CEO calls an “urban logistics network”—in this network，Users just tap the smartphone screen，The driver carrying the passengers can pick up takeaways on the way、Department and parcels。The number of drivers contracted with Uber now exceeds 200,000，About twice the size of the United Parcel Service (UPS) workforce，This fully proves Uber’s development potential。

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One year ago，Uber launches same-day delivery service，And plans to sign cooperation agreements with dozens of retailers。However，so far，Uber has only partnered with six retailers。As one of the partners，E-commerce company Gilt Groupe said，E-commerce company Gilt Groupe said，Part of the reason is that Uber cannot insure high-priced items sold through Gilt Groupe’s online store。

Recent months，Uber has missed cooperation opportunities to deliver electronic products or drinks for Apple and Starbucks in some cities。According to people familiar with the matter，Apple and Starbucks have discussed cooperation with Uber，But later reached an agreement with servicePostmates, a local express delivery startup。Yelp’s popular food delivery app Eat24 and catering delivery service GrubHub have also been in contact with Uber regarding cooperation，But ultimately failed to reach cooperation。

Uber’s food delivery service is called UberEats，Launched last fall。The company promised at the time，will bring New York City、Chicago、Los Angeles、Lunch and dinner reservations from popular restaurants by Uber users in cities such as Toronto and Barcelona，Fast delivery to their home or office。However，Because sometimes there are too few people ordering，Uber drivers often have 188bet app download to wait until the end of the day to deliver meals to users。

Uber representation，Its food delivery service will still adhere to its previous commitments，But this business is still in the early testing stage。UberEats business chief Jason Droege said in an email to the Wall Street Journal: "We will continue to experiment and test new products，These new products will bring benefits to customers and the cities where we operate。”Inside Uber，This service is called “UberEverything”。

Uber spokesperson also said，User response to UberEats “overwhelmingly positive”。”This business will be expanded to up to 15 cities in the coming months。

Development potential is still favored by investors

In the emerging on-demand express delivery service industry，Uber’s competitors believe，The smartphone era is giving birth to a new generation of shoppers，These users want many types of products delivered to their doorsteps as quickly as possible。

Investors are very optimistic about Uber’s development potential，They valued the private company at $41 billion in their last funding round。Informed sources revealed，Uber is negotiating for a new round of financing，The company’s valuation in this round of financing reached $50 billion or more，This is roughly equivalent to the market value of FedEx。

Jason Calacanis is a serial entrepreneur，Also an early investor in Uber。He said: “No company has a real-time logistics network as big as Uber。If Uber could use this infrastructure to make another line of business successful，They can subvert this industry。”

Uber’s revenue last year was approximately $400 billion，Plans to invest more than US$1 billion to develop the Chinese market this year。However，Uber has not publicly announced its development goals in the express delivery industry。Partner at Benchmark, a San Francisco venture capital firm、Uber Director Bill Gurley said，He has never seen Uber’s financial forecast，Including express business revenue expectations。“I think this company is growing faster than any company in Silicon Valley，The express delivery business is becoming its core product service，" Curley said。

Same-day delivery has become an increasingly competitive market segment，In addition to startups like Instacart and Deliv—which deliver packages from grocers and retailers to customers—even Amazon、Tech giants such as eBay and Google are also entering this field。Informed sources revealed，Even Uber’s biggest competitor in the U.S. ride-hailing app market, Lyft，We are also currently considering launching our own express delivery service。

Uber’s other business development besides ride-hailing business

The rhetoric of subverting traditional industries has turned into a laughing stock

However，This kind of business has encountered 188bet app download a huge obstacle in logistics。On a recent night，Jim Pekarek drives 30 minutes to San Francisco’s Mission District to pick up a $7 takeout burrito，Then delivered to customers 4 miles away。

Pekalek is a contracted driver for ride-hailing service Sidecar Technologies (hereinafter referred to as "Sidecar")，He got a burrito from Taqueria Pancho Villa，Hurrying back to the car parked on the side of the road，Then rush away。But Pekarek did not see the customer who ordered the food，And the other party doesn’t answer the phone either。

After viewing the map，Pekalek drove around the entire neighborhood again，and reported the relevant situation to two customer service representatives，Finally I realized that I had confused 29th Street and 29th Avenue。Wait until he delivers the burrito to the customer，Already 30 minutes later than the original time，The latter has gradually lost patience，Sent several messages expressing disappointment，Including "Let's forget it"。

33-year-old Pekarek said: "I'm confused，From an economic perspective，What’s the point of doing this？”He is a video game developer，In his spare time, he shuttles passengers and picks up packages for Sidecar, which is headquartered in San Francisco。Sidecar did not comment on its financial situation。

FedEx has also launched same-day delivery services in more than 20 markets，But the delivery volume of this service is only a small part of its overall business。According to FedEx Chairman、Frederick W., President and CEO. Smith）Introduction，For items purchased from e-commerce sites，Most users get the goods even after a day or more，I don’t care either。

Smith told analysts about Uber: "I personally think，The claim that this application will change the basic cost input of the logistics industry to some extent is absolutely exaggerated。This statement is inaccurate。”Uber declined to comment。

Testing express delivery services for various commodities

Previously，Uber once tested a sushi delivery service in Barcelona, ​​Spain，Has also tested custom clothing and condom delivery services in Manhattan and Washington, D.C.。But now，Drog’s team seems to be focusing most of its efforts on promoting UberEats。

Drog joined Uber last year from stun gun manufacturer Taser International，He is a classmate of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick at UCLA。The two also teamed up to create their first company, the file sharing service Scour。

Uber’s network also offers a potential cost advantage。Hundreds of thousands of Uber drivers (including its 2 in San Francisco.20,000 drivers) constantly passing near residential and office buildings，And the car purchase fee、Gasoline fee、Insurance and maintenance fees are all borne by the driver。In San Francisco，Half of Uber’s ride-hailing business is completed 188bet app download through UberPool，The latter is a multi-person carpooling service，Can match users with other passengers on the same route。

Kurley’s company was also an early investor in Uber，He said the same technology could be used to match passengers and packages with similar routes。

According to a person familiar with the matter who discussed the UberEats project with Kalanick，Uber’s main goal in launching UberEats is，Give private car drivers an additional source of income，Driving them on the road between 10 am and 2 pm - during this time，Drivers are often reluctant to come out to do the work。UberEats also allows drivers to always be present in downtown areas，This way，When white-collar workers are off work，They happen to be nearby。

According to an Uber driver in Chicago，User pays USD 3 after receiving the package，User pays USD 3 after receiving the package，An additional $2 per order will be charged for each additional hour，You can also get temporary rewards of up to $20 a day。Uber declined to comment。

Uber representation，Uber drivers in big cities in the United States earn an average of about $19 per hour，This does not include fares paid by passengers in cash。

Drivers face cruel real problems

For drivers says Ramon De Leon, 47，This is a win-win situation。We dedicate three hours every day to running special buses，In addition to the guaranteed basic salary，There is also commission income，So all efforts are worth it。”De Leon was once a pizza delivery driver，later became a social media strategist，Driving his red Volkswagen Tiguan to work in Chicago in his spare time。

However，Food delivery also brings new challenges to drivers，They must get off the car and go to the temporary parking spot to pick up the takeaway，Then put the hot food into the heating bag (the bag is inserted into the cigarette lighter socket in the car)，Sometimes they are suspected of illegal parking while waiting for customers on the roadside。

De Leon，Some people accidentally booked UberEats，Originally they wanted to book an Uber car。Uber will stop providing food delivery service at 2 pm every day，Instruct drivers to throw away leftover food。

De Leon doesn’t think Uber can disrupt the food delivery industry the way it did the taxi industry，Because Uber only provides two sets of menus every day，And it is difficult to expand to more dishes。De Leon said: “Uber just delivers the burger to a place where the user cannot walk to pick it up。”

Uber is still testing bicycle delivery service。Last year，The company launches UberRush service in New York，This service is targeted at small business owners，The latter sees UberRush as a more modern alternative to traditional bicycle messenger services。

If the user purchases a new suit on the Suitsupply website during a certain promotional season，They can choose UberRush’s same-day delivery service for $15 more，If you choose 188bet app download to be delivered by UPS for free，They need to wait one more day。At the checkout desk，Uber’s software will summon bike couriers to Suitsupply’s SoHo store，After picking up the new suit, it will be delivered to your door。

Retailers and customers alike can track the whereabouts of their packages through their smartphone screens。David Heath, co-founder of New York sock retailer Bombas, used the UberRush service to deliver socks to customers。He said: “After becoming an Uber customer，I finally understand how this service works。”

The driver is using UberEats to take orders

Insurance policy becomes another obstacle to development

Uber’s ability to understand the smartphone era，Doesn’t automatically win over big companies，Part of the reason is that these companies often rely on complex enterprise software to track product inventory，Manage goods delivery。According to people familiar with the matter，A clothing retailer with operations across the United States considered partnering with Uber，Let it deliver clothing from a warehouse in Manhattan to a nearby user's home on the day the user orders it，But there is no way to access the retailer’s inventory management software，The negotiations between the two parties ended in failure。

For example，If a customer orders a shirt，Uber’s software cannot determine if this shirt is a specific size，Or a specific color。

December last year，Gilt has cooperated with Uber，Free same-day delivery via Uber，Gilt hopes the service will attract last-minute purchasers。But，Uber’s insurance policy only covers losses up to $1,000，Gilt had no choice but to choose a local bicycle messenger service，Deliver higher priced items to your door，Includes 2 sold during promotional season.$40,000 handbag。A Gilt spokesman said: "Overall，This is a very cost-effective service，Increased revenue。”

Last year，Uber announced a short-term cooperation agreement，Responsible for delivering Alexis Bittar’s high-end jewelry to customers’ homes in New York，At that time, the company faced another obstacle。Alexis Bittar spokesperson said，“When we get multiple orders at once，We cannot guarantee how many goods Uber can deliver each time。”

Uber has also tested a delivery service for cosmetics and other household items in Washington, D.C.，But the company terminated the experiment after 6 months。This service does not have a minimum purchase amount，In other words，Uber to deliver $1 gum to customers’ homes，Had to run all over the city。Uber spokesperson said，"This rarely happens"，Uber has learned “what our users value，And areas where we can make the experience better。”

Tried and tried strategy failed

Uber’s tried and tested strategy in the taxi app market，But I can’t succeed in the logistics industry，188bet online sports betting For example, increasing service rates during peak traffic hours，Attract drivers to high-demand road sections，But in the logistics industry，Package express delivery is charged at a fixed price，And also set a specific time period。

American investment company Sanford C. Bernstein Logistics Analyst、David Vernon, a former executive of express industry giant DHL, said: "If you are running a supply chain business，The other party’s offer to you is 30% higher than the previous level，Then your transportation budget will be exhausted soon。”

How many orders are needed for express delivery business to achieve profitability，Uber declined to comment。Sidecar CEO Sunil Paul said，"Send the driver to pick up a 4.$99 package，Then it will take another 30 minutes to deliver to your door，This model is difficult to make a profit。”

Paul is currently addressing this issue through what he calls “bundling”，That is, delivering packages while carrying passengers。Under Sidecar’s partnership agreement with a medical cannabis service，Hundreds of drivers are traveling throughout the city，Express flowers、Hot meal、Even a pack of cigarettes。

Sidecar said，In San Francisco，Half of the company’s business is related to package delivery。Pekalek delivering a package to Sidecar，Earnings can reach $22 to $35 per hour，Exceeds passenger revenue。But，so far，He has never received an order to deliver packages while carrying passengers。

Sidecar spokesperson said，This is because most orders delivered by Pekarek are hot meals，Require him to deliver it quickly。The spokesperson said: “While delivering packages, we can also attract customers，That couldn’t be better，Because larger packages often take 2 to 4 hours to be delivered。”

The identification of the driver caused controversy

In order to significantly increase express delivery volume，Sidecar and Uber must direct drivers to pick up packages within a specific time。Due to legal issues，This may give Uber a headache。Currently，Uber is facing two lawsuits，The plaintiff claims that Uber should treat its contracted drivers as full-time employees。Uber countered，Drivers are independent contractors，They can choose the guests they want to serve。

As Uber attempts to exert more control over how and when drivers work，They are getting closer to being employees。”

Uber Chief Product Officer、Jeff Holden, an early executive in Amazon’s supply chain business said，Uber’s delivery business “is still in its early stages，”“Mr. Kalanick does not intend to celebrate things that have not yet made a difference，He likes to talk about truly scalable businesses。”

Uber celebrated its fifth anniversary earlier this month，There were various signs that Kalanick was still trying to restrain his ambition。

Kalanick said: “In an 188bet sports betting app download era where high technology can deliver the goods you need to your doorstep within 5 minutes，Imagine the future of all other goods and services，One day，You just click the button，These things can be fast、Delivered safely。"This is what Kalanick said when talking about the express delivery business，In a speech lasting 30 minutes that day，These words appeared in the last 90 seconds。