Uber Eats has introduced a new app feature to allow editing of grocery orders up until the moment the last item has been picked.
The feature allows users to change items and quantities “up until your shopper puts them in the cart” with “no need to cancel your order or start over”.
The on-demand app has also launched an AI-powered “smart replacements” feature which suggests substitutions “based on price, nutrition, and your past orders”. Users can also manually pick their preferred substitution. In the coming months, customer replacement choices will be saved for when they next order.
On the picker-facing app, Uber Eats has launched batch-picking functionality, so in-store staff can pick items for multiple orders at once “so they can organise ‘batch-picking’ by each section of the store and make the packing process more efficient”.
“Christmas is a magical time, but it can also be incredibly hectic,” said Katie Hunter, general manager of grocery & retail at Uber Eats UK. “Whether you’re cooking for ten, dashing to a party, or buying the perfect gifts, Uber Eats is helping customers get what they need, when and where they need it.”
“We’re also committed to helping our retail partners grow during this critical period, with the tools, insights, and tech to help them stay competitive and deliver a seamless on-demand experience,” she added.
Uber Eats is readying for a glut of grocery orders in the build-up to Christmas, revealing it received a near 20% increase in total grocery orders on Christmas Eve alone last year.
Potatoes were the single most ordered grocery item on Uber Eats in December, while searches more than doubled for pigs in blankets, Champagne and mince pies in December. The company said Brits searched for over three tonnes of turkey on Christmas Day itself.
The app is also positioning itself as a last-minute Christmas gifting service, launching an “on-demand gifting hub” with partners such as Boots and John Lewis.
The gifting hub will be “a one-stop shop to delight friends and family, with inventory ranging from cards and candles to perfume, prosecco, and even AirPods delivered to their door”.
A new feature allows items to be bought by a user but delivered to others. The recipient receives an alert in the app if they have it, or a web link, with which they can arrange delivery.
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