Uber to Deliver More Than Just People

After a year of battling lawsuits from cab and state agencies alike, it seems that Uber, an on-demand car service headquartered in San Francisco, has found a new job – or rather, has expanded its services to go beyond just delivering people.

Uber has announced it is expanding its Corner Store, a pilot program offering same-day delivery of over 100 non-perishable goods delivered to people’s doors that it launched in August.

While it is still just operating in Washington D.C., the program, now called uberESSENTIALS, says it can deliver its expanded list of products including holiday essentials like candles and wrapping paper in just 10 minutes or less. The service operates from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and until midnight on Saturday and Sunday.

The expansion of Uber into the goods delivery sector may come as no surprise to some. Last month, Tim Fallows, head of Google’s same-day shopping service – Google Express, left to join Uber. To date, Uber has raised a total of $1.5 billion in funding. Its investment in same-day goods delivery reflects the rise of the online grocery market. For more information on the topic, read The Continued Evolution of Online Grocery on FBU.