Uber Pool is coming back… Bring an XL mask. Last quarter, Uber had more active users than ever (118M), as you ride-hailed to Taco Tuesday and ordered Taco Bell direct-to-couch. Uber's revenue jumped 83%, and it notches its second profitable quarter since IPO’ing 2019. Delivery made up over half of bookings, with rides close behind.
- Eats: It’s hard to get a Saturday reservation again, as Americans return to eateries. That didn’t hurt Uber Eats’ revenue, which jumped 77% to $2.4B. Eats also posted its first quarterly profit and is now the US’s fastest-growing food deliverer.
- Rides: Uber’s completed nearly 1.8B rides last quarter, up 8% from the previous quarter and 23% from 2020, but still slightly down from pre-pandemic. Meanwhile, Lyft’s active riders fell last quarter.
Super Uber… Uber has long hyped plans to become “the operating system for daily life.” “Super Apps” (think: Uber, DoorDash, Venmo, Amazon... all in one) are popular in Asia, but haven’t quite taken off in the US. Still, 11% of Americans surveyed want one app to manage their entire digital lives. On Thursday, Uber unveiled super-app-y ambitions:
- The past: In 2011, Uber had two offerings: Uber and Uber Black. Today, Uber offers more than 15 ways to get around, including scooters, shuttles, rental cars, and motorbikes. Plus, it delivers food, alcohol, groceries, and even pharmacy products.
- The future: Uber wants to let you book flights, shop for clothes, manage your finances, and buy concert tickets all in its app. Uber says the initiatives could help gross bookings reach $170B by 2024. But the stock slid anyway.
Cross-promotion may be the best promotion… Uber gains delivery customers by promoting Eats to ride-only customers, and vice versa. It’s working: users who order food and rides through Uber’s main app spend 3X more than those who use the apps separately. And Uber will likely leverage cross-promotion to boost any future verticals, like shopping and flights.