Less than a year after its launch, Uber is already taking its logistics service UberESSENTIALS off the air. Launched in Washington in the summer of 2014, UberESSENTIALS stood out because it delivered groceries ordered online to consumers' homes within ten minutes. To make that possible, consumers could choose online from 'only' 80 in-stock products, which were delivered by a taxi driver within ten minutes. The condition was that the consumer already went outside to accept the package.
Marco Knitel, Uber's operations manager in the Netherlands, earlier cautiously hinted that the service might come to the Netherlands in the future. That plan now seems definitely off the table. Indeed, UberESSENTIALS has been quietly taken offline. In a response, Uber stated that the messenger service was only a trial. The taxi app would now analyse the results of this trial and translate them into an even better way of delivering.
Editorial LogistiekProfs
