Uber Debuts Savings Tools as Consumer Budgets Tighten

Uber has rolled out a series of products designed to help customers save money.

“We’re hearing it more and more these days — life just feels like a lot. Too complicated. Too uncertain. And above all, too expensive,” the tech giant said in its Wednesday (May 14) announcement. “That’s why at Uber we’re building practical products to make life a little more affordable — and a lot easier.”

Among the new offerings is Route Share, which offers pickups every 20 minutes along busy corridors during weekday commute hours with up to two co-riders, with fares up to 50% cheaper than the cost of an UberX.

There are also Ride Passes, which let riders pay $2.99 per month to lock in a price for a set route and save up to $50 a month, or pay upfront for five, 10, 15 or 20 rides on regular routes to access even larger discounts.

Meanwhile, the company is also introducing a product for Uber Eats called “Savings Slider,” which lets shoppers compare prices for items on their grocery list within stores, or even get recommendations for nearby stores offering better deals.

The new offering comes amid signs that Americans are feeling increasing financial pressures. For example, the latest inflation figures show, as PYMNTS wrote earlier this week, that the “basics of daily life are still pinching consumers in the United States, and the full impact of tariffs that escalated through the last month may not be showing up in the data yet.”

As that report noted, the headline inflation number is still above the 2% Federal Reserve target, as is the long-term inflation rate dating to the middle of the last decade, “a nod to how hard it is to get prices down once they go up.”

Meanwhile, tariffs continue to haunt consumers, according to recent PYMNTS Intelligence research, which shows that consumers who understand how these new levies work and those with little to no grasp of them are still expecting to pay higher prices.

Among people who understand the tariffs, the expectation is that they’ll pay 6.6% more on average for goods and services over the next 12 months. Those with less of a grasp on the unfolding duties still prices jumped 6.8%.

“In other words, a pessimistic vibe has set in all around, especially among shoppers who mostly or almost always go for the lowest prices,” PYMNTS wrote. “That group anticipates paying 8.3% more for goods and services.”