Uber Eats ($PRIVATE:UBER) just secured an expanded delivery program with Starbucks ($SBUX) across the United States by 2020. That partnership is going to expand Uber Eats' distribution footprint by about 18% in the United States, which brings its network closer to the range that rivals GrubHub ($GRUB), DoorDash ($PRIVATE:DOORDASH), and others.
On our database, we track close to 200,000 restaurants around the world that Uber Eats delivers from...
... as well as 30,000 plus Starbucks stores.
The Starbucks-Uber partnership, however, is just limited to American stores. Currently, we track 14,834 Starbucks locations coast-to-coast and over 83,000 restaurants and stores that Uber Eats delivers from, including 1,634 Starbucks from its "test cities."
Up until this partnership, Uber Eats was being suffocated by the likes of GrubHub and especially DoorDash, who already offer delivery services from Starbucks.
With an official partnership in place, Uber Eats will technically "win" fans of Frappuccinos and the like from Starbucks, as they will have the bigger footprint. However, that technically doesn't stop DoorDash from just adding the stores to their database and having its drivers roll up to do their own delivery service.
But the key here is "innovation and technology integration," as stated in the press release for the partnership. Right now, Starbucks regulars can accrue loyalty rewards by physically being at the store, but what if Uber and Starbucks collaborate to put customer's Starbucks cards in the Uber Eats app, or make deliveries through Uber eligible for rewards?
That may be key for fending off rivals in the Delivery Wars, a competition heating up day-by-day between small and large cap companies trying to outmuscle each other with faster delivery times and bigger distribution footprints.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- A full rollout of Beyond Meat at Dunkin' would boost distribution network by over 40%
- Domino's gets caught in the Delivery Wars crossfire as third party apps apply pressure
- Luckin Coffee now has 3,348 locations in China as it closes in on Starbucks. Next stop: Middle East
