Hyderabad, NFAPost: Uber’s Hyderabad-based Eats Engineering team has led the tech development for ‘Merchant Stories’ – the first interactive feature on the app, which allows merchant partners to connect directly with their eaters.
`Merchant Stories’ helps eaters seamlessly 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% of eaters who clicked through a restaurant’s story placed an order to that restaurant in the same session.
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 centers.
Commenting on the launch of the new feature, Eats Engineering Site Lead Jaiteerth Patwari said Uber 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,” said Jaiteerth Patwari.
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 backend for a new line of business — prescription delivery in the US.
About Uber
Uber’s mission is to create opportunities through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 15 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.
