Uber Eats Anticipates Continued Demand After Pandemic

Uber‘s food delivery business, Uber Eats, is betting it will continue to see success even after the pandemic ends, according to Bloomberg.

The company has seen continued success in the months-long pandemic, with customers ordering more often and new ones beginning to use the service, Bloomberg reported. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber’s delivery operation, said he thinks the order frequencies will likely go back to pre-pandemic levels, but the overall expansion of the business will help it turn a profit in 2021.

“A lot of the growth we’re seeing these days is here to stay,” Gore-Coty, according to Bloomberg.

For two straight quarters this year while people stayed at home and relied on delivery services to eat out rather than going to restaurants in person, Uber Eats saw more money than the company’s main ride-hailing business. In the third quarter, deliveries still more than doubled, even in spite of the company losing 24 percent of its monthly active platform users that included ride-hailing customers.

In a third quarter earnings call, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company’s positive earnings this year could be attributed to Uber Eats. He said there was a possibility “that delivery could grow up to be as significant as transportation as the crisis has introduced new customers into the segment at a velocity we could not have anticipated.”

The delivery business had seen a 190 percent increase in use, the company said.

The good fortunes also come as Uber announced the acquisition of food delivery company Postmates for $2.65 billion. That deal, expected to close by year’s end, will help increase the company’s geographic footprint and range in the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

The rising deliveries are a prime reason investors have been looking kindly on Uber, with shares up 38 percent this month, Bloomberg reported. The company’s S&P index advanced 9.3 percent, and the company’s shares fell 1.6 percent to $46.23 at close in New York.