Courier Apps that thrived in 2021
Uber
Uber first came to prominence with its taxi service, which was launched in San Francisco in 2011. Since then, despite experiencing the many ups and downs that come with any start-up company, they have quickly risen to become arguably the world’s most popular taxi app. Not content with only dominating the transport industry, they launched Uber Eats three years later, their food courier service which has gone from strength to strength. While the fact the brand was an established name by this point has been an undoubted factor in their success, Uber Eats quickly gained traction in the food courier business by offering free credits to new customers which could be used to order meals. This kind of offer has proven extremely successful in a number of industries such as the online casino industry, where new customers are offered free spins and welcome bonuses via sites like OddsChecker, or banking where the likes of Bank of America and Barclays offer cash bonuses to new clients. Uber followed the lead of these industries and has reaped the rewards, as it’s extremely difficult for most people to say no to free food.
DoorDash
Since its launch in 2013, DoorDash has gone from strength to strength, claiming almost 60% of the US market share. Although 2021 financial information has not been made available yet, revenue is expected to pass last year’s total of $2.9 billion thanks to ever-increasing user numbers. At the end of 2020 DoorDash was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, raising over $3 billion in the initial public offering. This is a testament to their impressive expansion which has seen the service used by over 20 million customers so far.
DoorDash quickly gained popularity by initially focusing on students from Stanford University, where its creators attended at the time. Similar to the creation of Facebook, the DoorDash creators were able to rely on students sharing their experiences with friends and family, providing free marketing through word of mouth. Once the name was out there, DoorDash’s team adapted quickly, incorporating new restaurants at a rapid rate, which allowed the company to expand. They have also been savvy in acquiring rivals and companies which may aid their services. In February they acquired Chowbotics, a food-focused robotics company for $46 million, before acquiring Wolt, a potential rival in the food delivery industry. DoorDash has also rightly received plaudits for being a progressive company, in February 2020 it was reported that 55% of DoorDash’s drivers were women.
Amazon
Like Uber, Amazon was able to rely on an already established name before stepping into the same-day courier service space. However, their growth in this market has been extremely impressive, with the service now available in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, India, and Singapore. Jeff Bezos company has revolutionized the e-commerce industry, by offering a wide range of products available with fast delivery, but the move into the same-day delivery market maybe his company’s most impressive feat.
Launched in December 2014 in New York, Amazon Prime Now allows customers to order fresh groceries and household goods which arrive at their homes within one hour. By July 2016 it had already expanded to Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Portland, among others. Such rapid expansion was achieved thanks to the convenience of the service, as well as the expansive range of products available. While supermarkets and grocery stores have offered delivery for a long time, very few offered same-day delivery and even fewer within an hour. Amazon spotted a gap in the market and has exploited it fully.
Conversely, they were also smart enough to withdraw themselves from the saturated market of fast-food delivery, which they were part of through Amazon Restaurants. Although this venture was fairly successful, they knew the competition was too high for them to ever dominate, so they shut it down to focus their efforts on Prime Now and are reaping the rewards. The Prime Now app has now been shut down, with its services incorporated into the main site, giving Amazon another string to its bow.