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Uber CEO: We'll Run Your Errands

Posted by samzenpus on from the filling-in-the-gaps dept.

mpicpp writes with Uber's latest plans for expansion. The future of Uber is about pharmacies and rickshaws. So says CEO Travis Kalanick. One of several avenues for expansion is in a category of delivery that's about running errands. "In Los Angeles, we're doing something called Uber Fresh, which is you push a button and you get a lunch in five minutes," Kalanick told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "In DC, we're doing Uber Corner Store. So imagine all the things you get at a corner store...FedEx isn't going to your nearest pharmacy and delivering something to you in five minutes," he continued. Another is in emerging markets, where the company may focus on rickshaws, rather than high-end black cars, Kalanick said.

7 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Uber Fresh? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, they'll go to Subway, wait in line to be served, tell them what I want in my sub, pick up a bag of chips, fill the oversized cup with my choice of drink and then deliver it to me, all of that inside five minutes?

    I'd rather wait for the McCopter to deliver my Big Mac and fries.

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    1. Re:Uber Fresh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Here random stranger, please take this prescription for a controlled substance down to the pharmacy. I look forward to your return in 5 minutes, when you definitely will not be around the corner snorting my painkillers."

    2. Re:Uber Fresh? by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't see why not. The local cab company used to do beer/liquor deliveries where I lived. $5 flat rate for all deliveries. As students without a car it was the best/only way to get a case of beer to the house. As long as you bill appropriately for the time it takes to complete the errand, I don't see why they couldn't make good money doing this.

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    3. Re:Uber Fresh? by Luckyo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Customer trusting the cashier?

      It's about pharmacy owner. They have massive amounts of security to prevent this very scenario.

  2. imagine all that waste by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's wrong with bringing a lunch to work or walking there, rather than "push button lunch/car emissions come out"

  3. Re:Urban Fetch by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I immediately though of Kozmo.com.

  4. Uber is the new weed guy? by swb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't this ultimately what this kind of service (d)evolves into?