Uber Just Added a Major Service Upgrade That Sounds Too Good to Be True

Holiday shoppers want their orders, and they want them fast. Now, Uber is delivering. With a new partnership with Shopify, it’s offering its Uber Direct on-demand delivery service for businesses that use Shopify Plus in the United States, Canada, and France, it announced yesterday.

That means retailers will be able to take advantage of same-day, same-hour delivery for the customers that put off their holiday shopping until the very last possible minute.

The vast majority of customers—80 percent—now expect retailers to offer same-day delivery, and they are willing to shell out for that added convenience, according to research compiled by Capitol One. The report, which was published last month, found that 41 percent of Americans would be willing to pay more for same-day delivery and 23 percent of those surveyed would pay more for delivery within three hours. 

The $178 billion transportation and logistics giant previously expanded its last-minute, last-mile delivery services for consumers last year when it added well-known brands, such as Allbirds, Cuyana, Blueland, and Trashie, to UberEats alongside takeout stalwarts.

Bernie Huddlestun, the head of Uber Direct, said that the new Shopify integration would help retails stay competitive and unlock new sources of revenue during the peak holiday shopping season that consumer companies count on to often generate nearly 40 percent of annual revenue.

“Our integration with Shopify will give Shopify Plus merchants a new way to keep their direct connection with customers and stay competitive—without the cost or complexity of building delivery operations from scratch,” Huddlestun said in a statement with the release. 

Uber is not the only platform eyeing this opportunity. After sunsetting its own program that offered same-day delivery from brick-and-mortar retail stores like Office Depot, PacSun, and Petco, last year, Amazon is reportedly working on an internal rush delivery service that will let customers pick up orders from Amazon stores within an hour, according to Business Insider.