Over the past few weeks, South African retailers and companies have been forced to significantly change the way they do business and serve customers as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
With the government introducing a 21-day National lockdown requiring people to stay at home, the demand for delivery of essential items is rapidly accelerating. At the same time, demand from the business community for delivery services to help them keep up with consumer demand has dramatically increased.
In response, today Uber is offering a delivery service for businesses, leveraging its logistics technology and network of drivers to provide retailers and businesses with a seamless way to offer their customers delivery.
A delivery solution
As the lockdown continues, the business community is seeing an increase in consumer demand for the delivery of their goods and products. While some retailers have offered delivery services for some time, they are quickly reaching capacity and may be forced to either turn orders down or possibly delay the fulfilment of orders. For others, providing delivery may never have been required or demanded from their customers, and now they must figure out how to get their product from their shop to a customer’s door.
Uber’s delivery service aims to solve these problems, providing businesses of all sizes with a seamless delivery solution for their customers. From stores such as supermarkets, grocers and pharmacies, any business that needs to provide a delivery service to customers can easily sign-up and immediately start offering delivery in a matter of days.
Businesses can also manage multiple orders with one account and track their deliveries in real-time, ensuring customer deliveries arrive on time and intact.
New income opportunities for driver-partners
With over 13 000 registered and professional drivers with the necessary permits to travel during the lockdown, Uber’s delivery service is also providing much needed incremental income opportunities for drivers and retailers.
Safety is a top priority for Uber, and all drivers are provided with the relevant resources and information to ensure they are making deliveries in line with regulations set out by the government.
Alon Lits, General Manager of Uber Sub Saharan Africa says: “Using Uber’s technology and logistics expertise for deliveries not only unlocks new income opportunities for drivers, but importantly allows businesses to continue serving communities safely and reliably across South Africa, at a time when many are unable to leave their homes,”
Providing a trusted solution to ensure business operations continue, will not only support a struggling economy, but create opportunity for growth, both now and after the lockdown
