Uber Eats Drops Fee For Non-Chain Eateries In US, Canada

Uber Eats will waive delivery fees

In an attempt to give relief during the coronavirus pandemic, Uber Eats will be waiving delivery fees for independent restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, Reuters reported.

Uber Eats, the food delivery arm of the popular ride-hailing company, is following the lead of other similar companies like GrubHub and Postmates, which also decided to do away with delivery fees.

Takeaway.com, the largest European vendor for online food ordering and delivery, said it had seen a sharp rise in companies signing up for its services amid the orders from several governments to close down restaurants and bars.

In those cases, though, the companies are still allowed to operate through online or takeout orders.

In almost every case, restaurants are hurting, with the virus having driven valuable customers away from public spaces. Government calls for “social distancing” have included explicit instructions to stay away from bars and restaurants, and the cancellation of public events almost across the board have further contributed to the decline.

GrubHub said it expected a 75 percent drop in dine-in traffic in the U.S. over the next few weeks, and food chains such as Yum Brands like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chipotle Mexican Grill, have begun offering free delivery to make up for the hits they’ve taken in in-store revenues.

On the other side of the food-based retail economy, grocery stores have had to act quickly and cut store hours in order to try to meet the frenetic demands of the virus’ spread. Customers have been buying up inventory in bulk, anticipating weeks with nothing to do but stay home.

Retailers like Apple, Nike and others have decided to completely close physical stores for the time being.

And small businesses have taken to implementing drastic and innovative measures, including adding makeshift drive-thru areas, in order to stay afloat, anticipating a particularly hard hit amid the forced closures.