Uber Eats plans to roll out an updated online grocery delivery experience, two years after it entered the U.S. e-grocery market.
Consumers in select cities will see new features in the Uber Eats app and website designed to make grocery shopping more convenient and dependable. This new functionality will include after-hours ordering, live order tracking and simpler item replacements for customers and improved support for personal shoppers.
Among the important new Uber Eats grocery delivery features is the ability to place orders whether stores are open or closed. Items that are ordered after hours are delivered in the first available window or scheduled at the customer’s convenience. Other additions include live order tracking and improved item replacement from the service.
With live order tracking, consumers will be able to monitor the shopping and delivery experience in real time, according to Uber. As a personal shopper scans and adds items to the cart, pays for the order at checkout and begins delivery, customers will be updated on the status of their grocery order as it happens.
“Uber has always been known for convenience — tap a button, get a ride, or get your food whenever you’re hungry. So, our focus on that has made it possible for consumers to now also get their groceries on their own time, because we know life doesn’t really happen on a schedule,” Therese Lim, senior director of grocery and new verticals product at Uber Eats, said during a press conference.