Dive Brief:

• Uber Eats added a Priority Delivery feature on Monday to allow customers to get their orders faster, according to a blog post on Uber’s website. An example of this service on Uber’s website showed a priority delivery arriving as much as 15 minutes faster for a fee of $0.99. 
• Users can now choose between Priority Delivery and No Rush delivery options, the latter of which is discounted. 
• In addition, Uber rolled out a loyalty program where restaurants can provide loyalty rewards through Uber's app and build direct relationships with consumers, Uber told Restaurant Dive in an email. Comparatively, customers using the Uber rewards program receive rewards from Uber directly and have a relationship with Uber.

Dive Insight:

Loyalty programs and improving delivery service are the next big areas for differentiation in the food delivery space. Loyalty has been a big strategy for Grubhub prior to its deal with Just Eat Takeaway, especially with customer retention low as they shop around platforms to get the best deals. 

Unlike Uber’s existing rewards program, in which customers receive rewards directly from Uber for Rides and Uber Eats orders, the new rewards program is made available by restaurants. It is very similar to Grubhub’s Perks program, which launched in September 2019.

“For restaurant loyalty, all of our marketing as well as the in product content strategy has made attribution to restaurants a key point,” Uber said. “This way, eaters know who is providing these rewards and restaurants understand Uber Eats isn't taking credit for something that the restaurant is funding and choosing to provide to eaters.” 

Restaurants have a choice to participate in the program, which is available at no upfront cost.  The only cost incurs when a customer redeems a reward, Uber said. 

“Loyalty programs have been highly requested by restaurants, especially in recent focus groups,” Uber said. 

Loyalty programs are particularly important for independent restaurants that don't have the same infrastructure as enterprise QSRs to build their own rewards feature.

Customers also have the opportunity to “double dip,” Uber said, meaning orders placed at a restaurant participating in a loyalty offer can get credit for that program as well as Uber Rewards as they are not formally connected. Alongside its built-in delivery tracker, these additions provide a competitive advantage that can't be easily replicated by competitors that don't offer multiple services like ride-sharing.