Comments
Uber’s Hyderabad-based Eats Engineering team has led the tech development for ‘Merchant Stories,’ an interactive feature on the app, which allows merchant partners to connect directly with their eaters.
‘Merchant Stories’ helps eaters discover the latest offerings from their favourite restaurants, while also assisting Uber merchants to display their delicacies.
A consumer survey showed eaters felt more comfortable making food decisions based on photos, and were more likely to place an order when they could see what their chosen food or beverage looked like. In early testing, 13 per cent of eaters who clicked through a restaurant’s story placed an order to that restaurant in the same session.
Delivery disruption: Restaurants forced to serve differently
This feature has so far only been rolled out in the US and Canada and reinforces the ‘Make in India for the World’ vision of India’s tech centres.
A picture is worth a thousand words
Jaiteerth Patwari, Site Lead, Eats Engineering, in a statement said, “We understand a picture is worth a thousand words, and that it’s much easier to order an item when you can see what it looks like. We heard feedback from partners who felt they needed to build a direct communication channel with their consumers, and our team worked to build a solution that addressed their unique needs.”
Uber Eats’ engineering team in India facilitates global initiatives
Through this innovation, merchants can now sign up for the ‘Merchant Stories’ feature to post regular updates. They can upload photos and add text to tell their customers about special deals, menu changes, new services, or seasonal promotions.
The Eats Engineering team has led several global innovations over the past year, helping restaurant partners reach more eaters, and in turn helping consumers access their favourite foods. These innovations include integrating leading digital wallets in Japan and Belgium during 2020, and connecting more restaurant partners to consumers when cities were in lockdown. The team also led the tech back-end for a new line of business — prescription delivery in the US.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.