Last-minute shoppers may find themselves in a bit of a bind with Mother’s Day this year. With large parts of the country still sheltering in place, getting to a store is complicated, and Amazon deliveries aren’t as reliably speedy as they used to be thanks to a huge uptick in demand. So if you haven’t gotten that gift yet, you better hop to it.
However! Uber Eats announced a feature today that could come to a procrastinator’s rescue. In a corporate blog post, the company said it was now making it easier to send and share food delivery with other people. You can send things like a Starbucks latte or a sweet treat to a friend (or, you know, your mom) and the recipient can track the order in real-time to know when it will arrive.
The new send feature arrives at a time when a recent survey from US Foods found that when it comes to food this Mother’s Day, 53 percent of moms said they want takeout or delivery from their favorite restaurant. Uber Eats’ send and share is global, so even if sheltering in place has you socially distant from your own mom (even around the world), you can still deliver a fun dining experience for her.
Although, Uber got a little less global this week. On Monday, we reported that Uber Eats is exiting the Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, and Ukraine as of June 4. The company is culling markets where it doesn’t have a leadership position.
And in news that reminds us of the grim times we are in, TechCrunch reported today that Uber has plans to lay off 3,700 people or 14 percent of its workforce. According to an SEC filing, Uber said the layoffs were “in response to the economic challenges and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the company’s business.” Those cuts are coming from the recruiting and community operations.
An upgraded sharing feature won’t do much to move the needle on the Uber Eats’ lack of profitability. But it does make it easier to share some food and some kindness with others at a time when they might need it most.
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