Ride-hailing service Uber is partnering with Yext, the location data company, to enable brands to create in-app campaigns.
According to a report by Adweek, Uber is already working with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Casper to enable on-demand delivery of products. The report said brands can use Yext’s software to put Uber’s API into their mobile apps, websites and emails. Clicking on the button will open Uber or prompt people to download the app, and then, it will show customers where the store is located or other types of branded campaigns. Brands can specify an exact address or location where they want the customers dropped off. For example, Macy’s can ask Uber drivers to drop a customer off in front of its Herald Square New York City store instead of, say, around the block.
Once the customer is in the Uber car, the brand can set up campaigns to, say, show in-store inventory of the store they are heading to. Restaurants could pull their menu into the app once the rider is in the Uber car, helping their customers decide what they want to eat ahead of time. In order for the campaigns to work, the brands have to be clients of Yext, the report noted.
“We’re closing the loop so that businesses can provide a great experience all the way from search results to checkout, which includes actually getting to the location,” Marc Ferrentino, EVP of strategy and product at Yext, said in a statement, according to the report. Yext said Cole Haan already tested the Uber feature to showcase its fall collection in New York, and Bayada, a home health care company, is using it to get more information about the company in front of job seekers. This isn’t the first partnership Uber has inked in its quest to grow the company. It has been inking deals with credit card companies, banks and other startups to make it even easier for customers to hail a ride.