The Uberfication of Deliveries
A new report from ParcelHero has predicted that the UK courier industry will be “just as vulnerable to Uber’s crowd share technology as the traditional black cab has been”. The report, entitled The Uberfication of Deliveries, found that UberRUSH has “revolutionised” local deliveries in a number of US cities already, forcing rivals such as Sidecar out of the market, and Uber admits it is eager to develop its delivery proposition in London.
“With £7bn of Same Day courier revenue on the table, there’s no way Uber is going to ignore the UK market for long, which means existing local express couriers are going to have to be ready for them,” warned ParcelHero.
David Jinks of ParcelHero commented: “Why would Uber want to move into logistics? The answer is simple: Uber is the most funded start-up in the world, valued at $50bn; but runs at a loss.
“The worldwide taxi industry is worth $22bn in revenue; but that’s tiny compared to the domestic global courier and parcel sector, which generates around $246bn in revenue, a far more lucrative market.
“Our analysis reveals Uber is likely to capture at least 10% of this market globally, earning it an extra $24.6bn annually. Uber needs to expand into these new markets to reach its potential.”
ParcelHero said that Uber will build on its US operation to work with big name and local stores to offer the speedy delivery of items; which means that UK consumers will “experience near real time deliveries”.
“If Uber brings its New York-style courier service to London,” said ParcelHero, “existing couriers will have to compete with the customer-friendly instant App bookings and driver ratings – or die.
“Over 500 black cabs have disappeared from the streets of London since the arrival of Uber, and ParcelHero predicts local couriers not connected with larger networks will face an even tougher future.”
Jink summed up what ParcelHero believed “Uberfication” could mean: “As any London cabby will confirm, the arrival of Uber violently shakes up traditional markets.
“Just like the taxi industry, the local express and same day courier market seems well-established but equally vulnerable to crowdsource technology. Existing companies will have to embrace this new technology, or fall aside.”
Click here to access the full report.
