Uber Claims 75% of Its Restaurateurs Would Have Closed Without UberEats

Written by Aaron Wise
Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 04:55pm CDT

According to a June survey of 400 U.S. and Canadian restaurateurs by pollsters at Technomic, “75% of operators said that they would have had to close their business if not for Uber Eats.” Although the poll’s language does not indicate whether “close” means permanently close or temporarily close, the result is nonetheless impressive given that 350 of the 400 respondents used third-party delivery services besides UberEats.

Technomic has published research in the food service industry for 50 years. Technomic was acquired by Winsight in 2015 and is now owned by Pamlico Capital, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm.

As of July 15, 2020, UberEats commands 32% of the food delivery industry, including its recently acquired 8% market share via Uber’s $2.65 billion Postmates acquisition. 

UberEats is second only to DoorDash which generates 45% of U.S. food delivery sales when including DoorDash subsidiaries Caviar and Mercato.

As we noted in our comprehensive analysis of third party delivery services, market dominance is highly localized. As of June 2020, GrubHub controls 52% of the New York City market; DoorDash controls the majority of Texas and San Francisco; Postmates leads in Los Angeles; and UberEats owns 61% of Miami.

Also this week, UberEats announced a free pilot program of its restaurant-operated website ordering service. Through the end of 2020, restaurants can use UberEats to build food checkout directly into the restaurant’s own website. According to a spokesperson Therese Lim, restaurants will be able to “customize their colors and themes and create a branded experience on their website” with an extended “waiver of all restaurant fees for Uber Eats pickups in the U.S. and Canada for the rest of 2020.”

All U.S. UberEats restaurants may add online ordering to their websites — either for pickup or delivery powered by UberEats — with no commission through December 2020. Restaurants are only responsible for actual payment processing costs.

UberEats’ survey of 400 of its restaurant partners also revealed other surprising results.

• 81% said they would have laid off more staff members were it not for third-party delivery services.
• 88% of operators who signed up with couriers during the months of COVID-19 “plan to continue working with third-party delivery services post crisis.”
• Two-thirds of operators surveyed ranked UberEats as their preferred delivery partner.

After the stock market closed today, Uber filed a mixed securities shelf offering to raise an undisclosed amount of capital. Also today, Uber was defending itself in a lawsuit in front of Britain’s Supreme Court “in a battle over rights in the workplace that could have ramifications for millions of Britons earning a living in the gig economy,” according to Reuters. Plaintiffs in the case are seeking workers’ rights such as minimum wage, paid holidays, and paid rest breaks. Judgment is expected no earlier than October.

Last week, Uber acquired software provider Routematch to enhance its public transportation abilities. On July 13, Uber and Google entered into a “Maps Master Agreement” with a new pricing model based on billable trips, rather than number of map requests. The companies’ new agreement also includes volume-based discounts.

Visit our comprehensive and exhaustively cited review of the four major U.S. meal couriers here.

SPONSORED: Join UberEats and enjoy $0 fees through December 2020. 

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash