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Uber’s Redesigned App Puts The Focus On Personalization

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Uber has unveiled an upgraded version of its application that focuses on simplifying and customizing the user experience.
The updated app has a simpler home screen, which eliminates the resistance of a few additional clicks when making reservations for a ride or placing orders for delivery.

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Image Source: wired.com

It also simplifies the way consumers can view saved venues, as well as some iPhone users can monitor the advancement of a trip on their lock screen.

Also Read: Google tests blocking news content for some Canadians

With the redesign, Uber wants to make the user experience so effortless and intuitive that more customers see Uber as the “one-stop shop for going anywhere and getting anything,” according to Jen You, head of product for rides at Uber.


“The redesigned Uber app has increased awareness and consideration to a wider array of products, which has driven growth to several lines of business,” You told TechCrunch. “This redesign leans into our platform strategy by expanding the breadth and relevance of products that Uber customers can engage with every time they open the app, especially Uber One members who use more of our products more often and will now have easier access to all the offerings in their city.”


Reference is taken from: https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/22/uber-redesigns-app-for-simpler-more-personalized-experience/
As per Uber, the update will be distributed to “tens of millions” of consumers in 1,200 cities worldwide on Wednesday. Customers must ensure that their devices and the Uber application have been upgraded to access the new app.


A simpler Home Screen
Several Users have had a glimpse of the updated home screen for several weeks now. The latest home screen incorporates carousels that prompt users with “More ways of using Uber,” “Ways to prepare with Uber,” or “Ways to save with Uber,” which would offer choices for facilities such as introducing a stop across a route, linking with public transportation, riding a Lime e-scooter, or selecting an even smoother riding experience.


At the screen bottom, the latest “Services” tab lists all of the trips and delivery resources obtainable in that city, such as e-scooters, supper choices, rental cars, delivering packages, and bus charter facilities. A new “Activity” button at the bottom of the screen lets customers keep a record of past and forthcoming trips and Eats bookings.


Getting to know you better
“Saved Places” will show up as a recommendation of locations and travel types predicated on a user’s preferences, previous trips, and also most probable locations whenever a user presses “Where to?” on the latest app. The app will keep gathering information about the user to provide more personalized suggestions in the future.

Also Read: Amazon Web Services pairs with Hugging Face to target AI developers


Updates to live tracking
iPhone owners running iOS 16 or subsequent can monitor their trips without manually opening the Uber app by using a “dynamic island,” which is essentially a little sphere that shows content that’s operating in the background. Users now receive alerts on their lock screen whenever a driver seems to be on their way or near to pick-up.

The dynamic island would then consistently show information such as automobile details which includes the driver’s photo, license plate, model of vehicle, and image of the vehicle as well as the most recent ETA and ride status.

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Uber Launches Ads Division to boost their Revenue

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Uber, a ride-hailing service, has started its own ads division to connect customers with companies by playing video ads while they are in their cabs.

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By playing video ads during the ride, Uber’s ads division hopes to connect customers with companies. The business introduced “Uber Journey Ads,” a fun way for companies to connect with their customers. To operate Journey Ads, Uber has already partnered with more than 40 well-known companies.

At first, these advertisements will only be shown in a few markets. Though some experts warn it could cause issues with user privacy, the company believes the new ad-targeting service has enormous potential for revenue growth.

Uber’s General Manager for the ads division, Mark Grether noted: “We have a global audience of valuable, purchase-minded consumers who, as part of our core business, tell us where they want to go and what they want to get.

While consumers are making purchase decisions and waiting for their destination or delivery, we can engage them with messages from brands relevant to their purchase journeys.

And with 1.87 billion trips last quarter, that means we can connect advertisers to consumers on average five times per month across rides and delivery.”

Uber also provides thorough data and analysis, which aids businesses in creating marketing initiatives that have a bigger effect on their target audience. The ride-hailing platform provides “Sponsored Listings” across Uber Eats to help brands stand out from the crowd and attract customers.

Uber’s “Homepage Billboards” provide sponsors the option to put advertisements on the Uber Eats homepage, and “Sponsored Emails” allow brands to push offers to Uber and Uber Eats customers by mail to their inboxes.

As per Uber, the new ad-targeting tool would enable brands to use information about riders’ previous travel patterns as well as their specific geographic locations to position ads. For example, a company might purchase ads targeted at that place if a user requests an Uber to go to a particular store, movie theatre, or airport.

Additionally, Uber will now permit a single brand to sponsor the entire journey, beginning with the initial request for the cab. These so-called “journey ads,” will be sold on a trip-by-trip basis rather than the typical pricing for digital advertising by consumer impression

This will allow brands to display a user different ads in three parts in the user’s trip: while waiting for a car, while driving, and once the user has arrived at the destination.

According to Mr. Grether, the rider can make purchases by clicking an ad without exiting the Uber app. Advertising on in-car tablets will also be included in separate pilot initiatives in the United States and India, he said.

Tech giants like Google and Meta, have been known to record users’ web activity to target them with ads. Retailers like Walmart and Kroger can keep track of your shopping habits to the advantage of the businesses that partner with them for advertising.

Uber has been developing its advertising business for several years, but the majority of its development to date has come from ads placed on the food delivery app Uber Eats.

The new division of Uber will face competition from rivals like Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart Inc., all of which are fighting for an increasing share of the advertising budgets of companies looking to reach consumers online.

Uber, which joined the advertising market in 2019, has stated that it hopes to generate over $1 billion in revenue from ads by 2024.

Meanwhile, a recent U.S. proposal that could prevent gig workers from being classified as independent contractors will likely result in higher costs for businesses like Uber and Lyft.

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Uber Sells 7.8 Percent Stake In Zomato In $373 Million Block Deal: Check Details.

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Uber Technologies Incorporated, an American Mobility service provider, is expected to sell a 7.8 % stake in the food delivery platform, Zomato on 3 August 2022, Wednesday, through a $373 million (approximately Rs. 2900 crores) block deal according to a familiar source and a document seen by the new agency. 

Zomato purchased Uber Eats’ India operation in a non-cash deal in January 2020. As a result, Uber received approximately a ten percent stake in the restaurant discovery platform. 

The proposal size of $373 million (approximately Rs 2,900 Crores) was on the basis of the lower end of a Rs 48- Rs 54 price range determined for the block deal with a discount of 2.8-13.6 percent to the closing price on the National Stock Exchange of Rs 55.55 on Tuesday, the document stated. 

The sole lead coordinator in the issuance of this block deal is BofA Securities, an American multinational investment banking division under Bank of America. 

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An inner firm memo viewed by the news agency disclosed that the Indian food Delivery Platform with backing from China’s Ant Group is taking reorganizing its management into account so that its discrete businesses would have its chief executive officer whereas the parent corporation would be renamed as “Eternal”. 

Deepinder Goyal, Chief Executive Officer of Zomato, in the memo specified that the corporation was currently not only operating the Zomato food delivery business but also other large businesses. Goyal said the businesses also include Blinkit, a proposed purchase of grocery-delivery startup, food Ingredients and kitchen supply business Hyperpure, and a non-profit organization whose purpose is to decrease hunger in poor Indian communities known as Feeding India. 

“We are transitioning from a company where I was the CEO to a place where we will have multiple CEOs running each of our businesses…all acting as peers to each other”, Goyal stated in the memo.

Source: gadgets360.com

Deepinder Goyal specified in the memo that the proposed name for the parent corporation, “Eternal” would stay as an “Internal name for now”. 

Zomato’s shares hit rock bottom last week as a one-year shares lock-in time duration for employees, advisors and other investors terminated and it posted a smaller quarterly loss, helped by some gain in orders for restaurant meals on its platform on 1 August 2022, Monday. The net loss of the firm was Rs. 1.86 Billion for the three months ended on 30 June, IN comparison with a loss of Rs. 3.56 Billion, which was recorded a year ago, the firm stated in a regulatory filing. On 27 July, Its shares changed by 37 per cent from a low of Rs 40.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. 

On Tuesday, Uber Stated in its earnings report that it had experienced an unexpected loss of $245 million in the second quarter and $707 million in the course of the first half of 2022 on its investment in Zomato. These unexpected losses are related to the reappraisal of its stakes in America-based self-driving technical firms Aurora, Indonesian mobility service provider firm, Grab and Zomato. 

“I would say that change is always slow and then it is actually fast. You don’t wake up one day and say now I want to change and then change happens overnight. So, I think over the last year, we have been really prepping and working hard to set up the infrastructure to make this change happen. This quarter is when all of those things actually started to happen,” cofounder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal specified, on whether the corporation had intentionally concentrated on profitability currently.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

The Ceo specified that their Food delivery platform, Zomato, had already invested approx. 150 million USD in BLinkit as a loan before they declared the acquisition in march. 

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On the Blacklane: Last Mile Connectivity Revolutionised

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Blacklane allows thousands of people to get home safe and sound every day. The company connects all these passengers to an insured fleet of professional drivers. Blacklane offers phenomenally professional driver service in over 50 countries and does it at affordable prices. As soon as you land at your airport, you can have your driver ready to go. This means no more delays, reaching meetings late and no more inconvenience. So how did the revolutionary idea come to be, and what’s the secret behind its success? Here’s a look at everything you need to know about Blacklane and the service they provide.

Making Their Presence Felt

Blacklane CEO Jens Wohltorf co-founded this innovative company with Frank Steuer. The two-man team which started their business from a one-room office in Berlin now employs more than 200 people. Their small company grew into an enterprise with a solid presence in over 185 cities. They have tie-ups with more than 300 airports, much more than what Uber or Lyft has! So what’s the idea behind this wonderful company?

Jens Wohltorf - Co Founder of Blacklane - Your Tech Story
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Story Behind the Idea

The co-founder Jens Wohltorf is an ex-Boston Consulting Group employee. Over at BCG, he made his way up the ranks and became the manager of their Berlin office, before calling it quits. In 2011, shortly after having received a promotion, Wohltorf stepped down to build his dream company. He got together with his old friend from University, Frank and then set the wheels in motion for Blacklane.

The duo had been planning and conceptualizing since 2009, analyzing the field and looking for opportunities. The duo always knew they wanted to work together, ever since their college days, and finally got their wish. When they saw that taxi apps were showing up on the Playstore, they took their chance. Also, traveling for BCG work had opened Wohltorf’s eyes to the need for professional car services.

Within the company, Wohltorf became the business guy while Frank handled the technical side of things. However, Wohltorf is industrial engineering with a Ph.D. in telecommunications. The first customer for the pair’s company was Wohltorf ‘s own brother and the business took off. The pair relied on online marketing to canvas customers landing in Berlin. 

Growth and Finance

In the beginning, the duo did most of the work manually and even took 12-hour shifts to handle driver and passenger queries. The first employees were added in early 2012 and by the end of the year, the company had expanded to 15 cities in Germany. Soon enough, the pair internationalized the business, by adding both the British pound and US dollar within payment methods. The website followed suit, by turning multi-lingual and offering English, German and French. By going international so early on in their business, the company was able to scale effectively later on. 

In 2013, the duo took on a challenge in the form of “Mission 100” which required them to add 100 new cities within 100 business days. This initiative helped them in reducing their launch time by over 75%. Once the duo started seeing returns, they began to look for investors.

Blacklane raised over 22 million euros via six funding rounds with Daimler being the main investor. This inflow of capital led to large-scale expansion and development, and soon enough, the company was operational in over 50 countries. Blacklane decided to have just one office in Berlin to help with centralizing power. 

Blacklane Vs Uber

All the drivers employed by Blacklane are licensed and insured, and just like Uber, the company owns no cars. The cars are not theirs, and neither are the drivers. Instead, the company acts as a bridge between the customers and the drivers, by partnering with local chauffeur services. This way, the team has been able to build a fleet of esteemed drivers in every city they operate. This ensures that there are no conflicts, regulatory issues or strikes. 

The biggest difference between Blacklane and Uber is that their pricing is fixed and all-inclusive. Hence, customers know exactly how much to expect and there are no hidden fees or surges in pricing. Also, unlike Uber, Blacklane works as a member of the travel value chain. Furthermore, they provide multi-lingual support to customers around the clock and also provide a booking guarantee. 

Further Growth and Future Plans of Blacklane

Recently, 64 new cities in the Asia-Pacific brought them to over 250 cities worldwide, improving their market presence significantly. The company is looking to expand further by partnering with flight reservation pioneers Amadeus. Blacklane will then become a part of the flight booking industry, and also plan on providing rooms to customers. Their transparent website and ease of doing business have played a big role in helping the company scale such heights.

Being extremely customer-friendly by allowing even one-hour cancellations makes them a service people love to use. The company plans on integrating with more airlines, hotels and online travel agencies to improve their reach and visibility. The company helps take all the stress out of traveling for business travelers who have other things to worry about. With the world becoming a smaller place every day, such services will help people settle in faster than ever before.

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Uber Lays off Another 350; Ensures it would be the Last Cut

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Despite Uber going public this year, the year has not been a very good one for the company. The IPO did not work out as it was expected to, and the company had to lay off a large number of staff twice this year. And the process of laying off the employees did not stop there. The company has announced that it is again cutting around 350 employees from various departments of the company. These departments include the Eats, performance marketing, Advanced Technologies Group, recruiting, various teams within the global rides, etc.

Around three months (maybe less) ago, the company had laid off around 400 jobs for people from its marketing team, and almost a month ago, 450 jobs were cut from the product and engineering teams. This time, the number of employees is a bit less than earlier, but more departments have been affected by the decision, and the company is claiming that it would be the last time when it will be laying off the staff.

This number is 1.5% of Uber’s total employees, but still, since it is happening third time this year, this is not good for the repo of the company. along with cutting the jobs, it has also made some shuffling of locations for its staff as well.

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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sent emails to the Uber employees, where he wrote, “Days like today are tough for us all, and the ELT and I will do everything we can to make certain that we won’t need or have another day like this ahead of us. We all have to play a part by establishing a new normal in how we work: identifying and eliminating duplicate work, upholding high standards for performance, giving direct feedback and taking action when expectations aren’t being met, and eliminating the bureaucracy that tends to creep as companies grow.”

The company has also cut a small percentage of jobs in its self-driving car unit. The people working in the US and Canada have been most affected by the decision.

Uber has been investing a lot to expand its services and business around the world. But 2019 have surely been the most challenging year for the company. This year in the second quarter Uber reported its biggest loss till date, i.e. $5.2 billion, which is double the loss it had experienced last year. So to cope-up with the changing market and new trends, the company has to take some serious steps.

Uber IPO

Uber Suffers a slow Growth and a $5.2 Billion Loss as it Closed Q2 2019

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Uber just had its IPO, and it does not seem that the company is earning the expected profits. The company on Thursday revealed its second quarterly earnings after the IPO and has reported a loss of worth $5.2 billion. Though the earned revenue for the second quarter earned is $3.17 billion, it is still less than the expected revenues, i.e. $3.36 billion.

The price of Uber’s every share had gone down to $42.98 per share from its IPO price, i.e. $45, and the company closed the quarter at 9%. The reported net loss is the biggest loss that the company has ever gone through.

Recently Lyft also came out with its revenue for the Q2 2019 and also reported a loss of $644 million. Being smaller in size, this loss for the company is equally also huge. If we took out the various expenses, like Uber mentioned, “stock-based compensation expenses for employees”, the two are still at loss, as Uber has lost around a $1.3 billion, which is 30% more than last year. And, the total loss for Lyft is around $197 million.

Uber IPO
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Uber has just earned a 14% growth up from its last year’s growth, whereas, Lyft has reported a 72% more growth compared to its last year’s growth, i.e. an $867 million.

“While we will continue to invest aggressively in growth, we also want it to be healthy growth, and this quarter we made good progress in that direction,” said the Uber chief financial officer Nelson Chai.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also made a similar statement and said, “We’re very confident that this company, at maturity, can be cash-flow positive.” Dara also said while talking to reporters, “We think that 2019 will be our peak investment year and we think that 2020, 2021, you’ll see losses come down. I think our break-even is something that we can push the company to break even if we really wanted to frankly.”

But is the company really experiencing any growth? In recent years, the pace of growth for the company has quite slowed down. Also, it had fired over 400 employees during the IPO as well. There have been more losses than profits in the entire journey of Uber, and it makes its position questionable in front of the investors.