LatamList – UberEats just entered supermarket shopping in partnership with Cornershop, a Mexican-Chilean last-mile delivery startup. Uber acquired a majority stake in Cornershop last October to expand its operations beyond the mobility and transport sector.
Cornershop arrived in Brazil in 2020 which is now the fastest-growing market for the company. In Brazil, the partnership with Uber includes two of the country’s three largest supermarket retailers, Carrefour and Grupo Big.
“These services are here to stay,” said Oskar Hjertonsson, founder of Cornershop.
Uber, which lost $8.5B last year, suffered major impacts on its core mobility business during the pandemic. UberEats is still a cash-consuming business and posted a $313M loss in the last quarter alone. A boost in its delivery division, UberEats, will be advantageous for the company. In Latin America, UberEats grew 100% in April and May compared to the same period last year.
“Uber has evolved from what it used to be, a mobility-only company. We want to be the system of everyday life for people and, in the current crisis, it is even more important to offer new options to customers,” said Grace Schiodtz, Head of Strategic Initiatives at UberEats LatAm.
“When looking at market deliveries, we see a great opportunity to engage our consumers. It is a complementary business to the delivery of meals,” said Raj Beri, the Global Director of Grocery and Strategic Initiatives at Uber.
Even so, UberEats must face strong competitors in the market, where major retailers already have partners for delivery of purchases. For example, Carrefour partnered with Rappi, and Grupo Pão de Açúcar uses James Delivery.
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