The Amazonification of Uber: Part II - Exploring the Shift

The Evolution of Uber: From Transportation to Super App

Several years ago, the trend of “Amazonification” within Uber was observed. This described the company’s shift towards a self-contained ecosystem, directing customers through various Uber services. The initial focus centered on fostering customer loyalty by strategically cross-promoting offerings like food delivery, grocery shopping, and alcohol purchases, ultimately leading them back to transportation options.

Becoming a Lifestyle Platform

Currently, Uber’s ambitions appear to extend beyond its traditional transportation roots. The company is actively striving to establish itself as a comprehensive super app – a centralized hub for diverse services and a daily-use platform, with premium features accessible through a subscription model.

A clear demonstration of this strategy is the launch of Uber One Member Days. This event mirrors Amazon’s Prime Day, offering exclusive benefits to Uber One members.

Uber One Member Days: A Prime Day Parallel

Amazon’s Prime Day, a two-day shopping event reserved for Prime members, has consistently driven sales growth since its inception in 2015. Last year alone, the event generated an estimated $14 billion in revenue.

While Uber is currently far from reaching this level of scale, its global reach, logistical capabilities, and extensive driver network – encompassing both independent contractors and autonomous vehicles – present significant potential.

The inaugural Uber One Member Day, scheduled from May 16th to 23rd, will feature a wide array of discounts across Uber’s services and those of its retail and hospitality partners.

Exclusive Deals and Incentives

Uber customers can anticipate savings such as:

• 20% off Uber Black rides.
• 30% off Uber Reserve bookings.
• 40% off Uber Comfort rides.

Additional offers include:

• 3,000 Delta Skymiles points for linked Delta and Uber accounts with 10 trips completed during the event week.
• Discounts on Oura rings.
• $20 off Ticketmaster purchases with a $3 grocery spend.
• Complimentary food items from popular fast-food chains, including Chipotle burritos, Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee, and McDonald’s 10-piece chicken nuggets.

Expanding Membership and Revenue

“Our goal is to provide exceptional value to Uber One members,” stated Sachin Kansal, Uber’s Chief Product Officer, in an interview with TechCrunch. “This event offers substantial savings, and also serves as an attractive introduction to membership for potential new subscribers.”

Uber is continually focused on expanding its Uber One membership base, which currently stands at approximately 30 million. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted during the company’s recent earnings call that members exhibit “high retention rates.”

Members spend three times more than non-members, according to Khosrowshahi.

Mirroring Amazon’s Growth

As Uber integrates more partnerships beyond food and grocery delivery – exemplified by its recent collaboration with Home Depot – and combines these benefits with its membership program, it is following a similar trajectory to Amazon. Amazon began as an online bookstore, then expanded to sell a vast range of products, and ultimately developed the infrastructure for both e-commerce and digital services, including AWS and Prime Video.

For many consumers, Amazon has become an integral part of daily life. With Uber One Member Days, the company is signaling its ambition to achieve a comparable level of ubiquity. It believes that its asset-light mobility services – rather than package delivery – may become the foundation for the next wave of digital consumer culture.