Have you ever wasted your afternoon trying to figure out how to get something you need from point A to point B? (That box you got delivered to work, lo and behold, is too heavy to carry on the train? That shirt you took from your roommate that he really, really, really needs at the apartment NOW?!) Yep, us too – and it seems we’re not the only ones.
This past week Uber launched UberRUSH, a same-day delivery service that is being pilot tested in three major cities, and is being pushed as a business-to-consumer asset. As Uber released in a statement Wednesday, “today with the launch of UberRUSH, every business in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco has the power to get customers what they want, when they want it.”
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UberRush allows businesses to make faster, more reliable deliveries that, in turn, save consumers extra “tedious” trips to places such as the grocery store. For now, the service is targeted towards small businesses. For example, through UberRUSH, local or smaller-scale restaurants with lesser capacities for delivery teams can outsource delivery and get their customers food faster, preserving more time for in-house clientele.
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Will UberRUSH be a disruptive market force against companies like UPS and FedEx? Although UberRUSH does not deliver nationwide just yet, we anticipate them stealing a bit of attention from these now “old school” delivery companies in their trial cities. For example, when ordering something online from a local retail shop, consumers who want same-day delivery would have the ability to choose the UberRUSH delivery option. Consumers will then be able to track their product, every step of the 30-minute way. Say goodbye to “3 to 5 business days.”
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Uber made a name for itself by finding ways to meet consumers’ needs where traditional business models were falling flat. And the brand epitomizes contemporary corporate movement: action-based and willing to make daring moves across traditional business-identity “boundaries” (who’d have thought a taxi service would be delivering roses on Valentine’s Day!?). Will the old school players prevail amidst the force of this new school juggernaut? Only time (and with UberRUSH, we may all have a lot more of it) will tell.