Suppose Uber is about to launch Uber Grocery. Walk me through it from 0-1.

I would like to pilot the service at select cities before I go nationwide. Pilot would allow us to fix the kinks, evualate the customer interest, and validate the market fit.

1. Select a pilot city and the local grocery stores to partner with in the city (Operations)

2. Build a website and app to list the selection from the partners (Product)

3. Build a partnership with carriers/couries to delivery the items (Operations)

4. Make an arrangement with store owner or opertions workforce to make items packaged and ready for pick-up (Operations)

5. Build and train the customer support team since customer service is critical to address any customers concerns (Customer support)

6. Make an launch announcement for the product, invest in advertisement, publish blogs, promote the product with help of online influencers, create referral programs (Marketing)

7. Launch the product

8. Build in the promotional offer (free first delivery, items price discounts, etc.)

Metrics

1. Measure the KPI, after the launch

2. Build the p/l for the business; also measure user base/overall revenue/overall cost/overall profit and their trend.

3. Measure revenue per customer, dollar per order (order size is critical to control cost and create a finacially viable business), profit per customer.

4. Create user funnel: #app downloads, #registrations, #customer that place orders, #customer that make repeat purchase, revenue per customer

Based on the initial results from the pilot, I would form the strategy to go nationwide.

hjc · Answer 2 · 2020-09-09T18:47:48+0000

Clarification

Can I assume this is the first time for Uber to launch this service? [Yes]
IIUC, the user journey for Uber would be:
- User open Uber App
- User navigate into Uber Grocery, which is a tab side by side with Uber Eat
- User select the grocery store that are available
- User place selected items into shopping cart
- User check out the order
- Store pick the order and notify Uber
- Uber driver pick up the order and deliver to User [Correct]

Analysis

Uber Grocery is similar to Uber Eat in the use flow, but also have significant differences

|Dimension |Uber Eat |Uber Grocery |

|--------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------|

|Time Req |Sensitive, < 1Hr |Flexible, Next Day is ok |

|Order size |Small, 1-meal |Med-Large, stock for 1 week. |

|Inventory |Static, menus |Dynamic, price availability changing daily. |

|Industry. |High Gross margin |Low gross margin |

Product

The product will include:

The channel integrated into Uber App/Web, which allows Uber Grocery user to browse, shop and place order.
The backend which allows Grocery Store to add/remove/modify inventory, be notified of orders, process orders and notify Uber when order is picked.
An app for grocery store staff to manage the work flow of processing orders

User

Target Users for Uber Grocery lives in the urban area, have family, busy and regularly cooks. And for them the benefit of Uber Grocery is convenience, so that they can spend the saved time on their family or other important things.

Goal

Since this is the initial launch of the service, the goal for Uber is probably on user growth, to prove the viability of the service. Profit is not the focus on this stage.

KPI

Among Acquisition, Activation, Retention and Monetization, the north star metrics is Activation

# of Users who placed at least an order
% of Uber user in this city who placed at least an order
# of total orders placed

In addition to the north star metrics, I will also monitor other aspects of product health

Customer satisfaction and feedback
Conversion rate at different stages
- browsing -> shopping cart, which can indicate problems on the UI, inventory, item pricing
- shopping cart-> check out, which can expose problems on the UI
- check-out -> Successful Payment, which can expose problem on UI, delivery price design, etc.
% of order cancellation
# and % of support contact
Order to fulfillment time

Launch

Pre-Launch
- On the product side:
  - Location: Choose a city that has large Uber user base, such as SF
  - Partners: Recruit major grocery chains, such as Target, Trader Joe's, Sprout and local stores to make sure a wide selection of offering.
  - Solution:
    - Test the solution with Pilot partners, internal users and power users and optimize.
    - Training and Integration
  - Drivers:
    - Communicate with Drivers to opt in to this new service
    - Make sure abundant drivers are available before launch.
  - Support:
    - Training of call center staff of the workflow
- Pricing
  - Design pricing strategy for delivery cost, probably cheaper than Uber Eat given the flexible time requirement
  - Design biz model with Grocery Store
  - Design promotion scheme for User/Driver/Stores during initial launch
- Promotion
  - At this stage, will use below means to drive awareness and anticipation
    - Ads on TV (nation wide and local to the launch city), Newspaper articles
    - Facebook/Twitter channel for Uber to announce plan
    - Ground ads, billbox in the city and enrolled stores
    - Google Play/App Store campaign to drive installation of app
- Place
  - In additional to entry from Uber App, decide on additional entry points such as from Yelp, Google Map, Google Shopping and negotiate.
Launch
- Launch the service, visible through Uber App/Web, Partner store App/webpage
- In addition to the media channels used in pre-launch
  - Notify users through Uber app notification
  - Ads on Google
  - Blog of power users on initial experience
- Monitor initial metrics, analyze and follow up user feedback
Post-Launch
- Monitor user retention metrics such as repeated order, 7d/14d retention, in addition to user activation.
- Analyze impact on Uber Eat and Uber Ride share
- Analyze User Segment/Behavior to confirm pre-launch assumptions and iterate the product.
- Execute on expansion plan

naruto · Answer 3 · 2020-06-25T04:43:34+0000

Open to feedback on how to improve my thoughts on answering this product launch question.

Goal of the Uber Grocery :

To provide a best grocery delivery experience for on demand needs of grocery

User journey :

User comes on platform. Chooses the grocery store his location, and adds items to the cart, makes the payment, and driver gets assigned and driver goes to the store, makes the payment and picks up the grocery and delivers

Success Metrics :

Percentage of users who start using the grocery
Percentage of users who open it and drop off for various reasons
- Stores not being available
- Items not being there
- Payment not going through
- Uber driver partner not assigned
Percentage of users who raise complaints
- Returns,
- Quality of product being not good

Pre - launch :

Choose a location to launch
- Mostly metro city where Uber is already launched
- Cities where Uber drivers have a lot of time at hand during non peak hours
Onboard grocery stores
- Make an announcement in the media about on-boarding grocery stores
  - Provide details about the app where grocery stores can register, upload their catalogue, and update the prices of items
- Hire Foot soldiers to talk to each of the grocery stores registered in locality
  - Set a frame work Onboard only decent stores where quality of products is considered to be good
  - Walk the stores through process of ordering and returns if any

On board existing drivers to opt in for grocery stores
- Give an option in the app for drivers to opt in for grocery deliveries
  - Provide an option to opt in and opt out real time e.g. Will opt in now and can opt out after 2 hours

Build awareness among the users about the grocery category launch
- Work with PR Agency for marketing articles
- Digital marketing to acquire customers in the high end zones of the city where competitors like Dunzo, Big Basket, and Amazon are already operating
- Market through uber drivers and posters inside the cabs

During Launch

Provide discounts on the Items bought
Provide referral bonus for users installing app to buy grocery only
Provide first time discount
Monitor the number of users and grocery stores

Post Launch

User Metrics
- Percentage of users of uber opting for grocery
- DAU, and MAU of grocery alone
- Average Basket Size of Grocery basket
Experience
- Return requests of users
- Complaints received
  - # orders with complaints / total number of order
- Ratings and reviews of app for the users whose experience was not great
- Number of grocery delivery requests without any driver
  - Can optimise on the time slots - enabling grocery only during non peak hours in the pilot
Driver Metrics
- Number of drivers opting in
- Average commission made by the drivers
- Driver rating for the grocery delivery
Grocery Store Metrics
- Number of grocery stores registered
- Number of grocery stores with at least one order in last one week
- Rating and reviews of each of grocery store basis the user experience.

ROHIT SINGH · Answer 4 · 2023-09-07T08:58:55+0000

Uber provides a multiplatform service eg. Uber eats (responsible for transportation of food), uber rides(responsible for transportation of people), uber freight(responsible for transportation of luggage).

Clarification question:

ME: is it a new product or integrated with one of our platforms?

Interviewer: what do you think?

Me: from my perspective it should be integrated with the uber eats by providing an extra tab once user clicks on that tab it takes them to the grocery services interface which will be connected using API’s. As it is integrated with uber eats so we can leverage the existing user base and our cost of acquiring users will be also less giving us an upper hand in the market.

What is the goal behind this launch strategy?

Let’s say increasing the revenue by 10%.

GTM strategy:

Pre-Launch:

1.Leverage the various channels (Ads on Tv, social media campaign) for awaring the people about the service.

2.Choose the right market for launching the campaign based on city type(rural/urban), population, % of working professionals, % of people who have higher income.

3.Make sure we have proper warehouses to store items and supply on time.

4.Competitive pricing analysis.

During-Launch:

1.Start the campaign with various lucrative offers such as 2 orders per month is free/no delivery charges will be taken.

2.Order groceries get extra 10 %off while using uber eats(ordering food).

Post-Launch (Measuring various KPI’s):

1.X% Increase in revenue.

2.# of people who ordered from uber groceries.

3.% of people who used uber groceries & before that they were using uber eats.

4.% of people who used the uber groceries & before that they were not using uber eats.

5.NPS.

6. take help from data and tools like- clevertap for more personalized targeting.

7.Use machine learning algorithm to recommend items based on their purchasing history and search.

Risk:

1. It can lead to a cluttered interface.

2.Make sure that app is not working slow.

3.There is not any new bug which can affect the crash of the app thus affecting both uber groceries and uber eats.

Srishti Jain · Answer 5 · 2023-08-30T13:53:53+0000

Approach -
1. clearly understand the user segment and our value proposition.
2. confirm that the decision to go ahead is final and we don't have to make a 'go/no-go decision'
3. Once finalized the User Segment and our value proposition (the 'Why' behind our product), we can delve into other aspects such as promotion, distribution, logsitics supports, suppliers, users (marketing), etc.

USER SEGMENT & VALUE PROPOSITION
Assumption - we're considering for only kitchen perishable supplies. However, if that's not the case, the answer would change completely.

There can be many user segments x needs -

1. Large volumne orders --> kitchen supplies for resturants, hotels, or home kitchen owners, bulk orderers for large families, caterers etc.
2. Small volumne orders --> B2C users
3. Niche categories --> Ingredients specific to particular cusinies, eg. japanese, korean, authentic andhra, maharashtrian, gujrati, etc.

Since there are so many players in #2 categories, for the volumnes, one can target that. But to stand out in the market, I'd keep #3 as the goal for the ideal value proposition. (open to thoughts on this) Reason - Uber has a premium image in the indian market and hence User ubers are likely to have affinity to high WIP for authentic premium supplies

PRODUCT

Online delivery app, similar to Swiggy Instamart/Zepto/BB.

Users can login, skim through the product listings, make an order, make a payment.

To develop and run this product, we'll require -
A. Suppliers & warehouses

1. Getting brands that meet out value proposition on board
2. build warehouses in the vicinity of the areas where we see demand to come from
3. Logistic partners for inbound and outbound logisitics/ 3rd mile as well.
4. Personell for operations

B. Produch & Analytics team

1. A team of software engineers, designer, product manager, analysts etc. to develop the platform E2E

C. Users

1. Marketing plan to build awareness for the product - campaigns for Uber Premium users, paid Google and social media campaigns, partnerships and DOOH in premium societies, basically, identifying max. touchpoints for Individials with high annual Household income who have the WIP to pay the premium.
2. Budget for promotions

Aslan · Answer 6 · 2022-02-24T07:38:35+0000

Clarify:

Is Uber Grocery going to be the vertical in Uber Eats or a separate app? I would suggest keeping them together since we can directly catch the users of Uber Eats.- ok

Is this mobile app or web app? Both

Uber grocery: this is a marketplace where users can order their groceries through this app.

Goal: launch Uber Grocery as the extension of the Uber Eats in order to increase the growth

Who can use Uber Grocery if we launch it?

User persona:

- Working professionals

- Students living in campus

- Families with little kids

- Ppl having disabilities and senior citizens

User journey:

User to open the app

User to select the grocery store

User to add items to cart

User to order

System to request confirmation from the couriers/drivers of Uber

Couriers/drier to pickup the grocery items

Couriers/driver to drop off the pack

Pre launch:

Partnership with big chains , PR , discount campaign readiness, set the user acquisitions and engagement metrics

Customer service ramp up

Since there is already driver base of Uber, I am not thinking about having partnerships with the couries/ driver companies to hire the supply in the beginning.

Launch:

Marketing activities, providing the discounts and campaigns, referral system, send email notifications to the users of Uber ride and Uber Eats

Post launch:

Analyze the metrics around 2 weeks after the launch to understand the health of the app. Why I gave around 2 weeks because the engagement will be higher for the first couple of days due to the learning effect.

I would launch this in a pilot city and I would launch it in a urban area i.e. SF to have a balanced supply and demand structure initially.

Metrics

# user acquisition

# driver/courier acquisition

#grocery stores have joined

#users to order groceries in the first, second and third week

#new users through referral

#how many orders/day

Avg commission/day

DAU, MAU

Churn rate?

Feedback of the users on app store

What is the bounce rate at the checkout? I would also look into this since 60% of the consumers leave the app while they put the products in the cart. If there is churn rate, I Would like to see the reason in the beginning.

SS@1 · Answer 7 · 2020-12-22T16:33:20+0000

Defining Uber Grocery: Application that would allow Uber driver to deliver groceries from local grocery store to the user's address/location. I am assuming that groceries include household supplies, fruits, vegetables, produce, meat and anything perishable.

Goal of Uber Grocery: To step into new market for market share by utilizing existing Uber customers. This will help in increasing revenue.

Strategy:

I am assuming that the target users are all of Uber's existing user base, who are already Uber account holders, trust the service and tech savvy (who already know how to operate the app). I am also assuming that Uber drivers will continue to deliver.
For the sake of this exercise, I would like to suggest launch in US.
I would also like to measure metrics like
1. Avg number of bookings per user
2. Avg number of items per booking per user
3. Avg purchase price per user
4. Number of times user left session without making a booking
5. Avg number of Uber drivers available for delivery per session per location
6. Avg number of deliveries per Uber driver per day
7. Revenue per user per session
8. Avg. Profit % per session per location
Competitors:
1. the biggest competitors for Uber grocery would be Instacart and Amazon Prime delivery. Advantages over Instacart are that Uber has its own loyal user base, and this user base can be acquired into Uber grocery as well. Advantages over Prime delivery is number of local stores that Uber would have partnerships with as compared to Amazon and Instacart.
2. I would like to start with $35 minimum cart value to be market competitive for free delivery.
Implementation plan:
1. Pre-launch activities:
  1. Social media - Advertisements on FB, Instagram and LinkedIn as funnels so that users can navigate to Uber Grocery app. Also can create short Youtube ad that spreads awareness to users
  2. Partnerships - partner up with local grocery stores so that they agree to trust uber drivers with their groceries
  3. Incentives to Uber drivers - Educate existing uber driver base about the upcoming app and additional incentives per delivery made.
  4. Since Uber has a large user base, be prepared for a high volume of signups for the service.
2. Launch activities:
  1. Provide incentives to existing Uber users like 10% discount, Referral bonus or vouchers
  2. Press release on websites like Techcrunch to make it official.
  3. App launch on App stores.
  4. Keep close observation on competitor apps like Instacart or Prime if they are launching new features that would affect Uber Grocery.
3. Post launch-
  1. Measure metrics to understand if launch was successful or failure
    1. Determine locations of highest booking traffic
    2. Determine most profitable locations
    3. Determine users with high profit %
    4. Determine % churn of users per session
    5. Determine causes of churn - items, stores and locations with most users abandoning cart
    6. Determine % of free vs paid delivery
To summarize, I would like to start Uber Grocery for all types of household deliveries fo perishable and non-perishable items for Uber user base and would like to provide them with incentives in order before and during launch for easy adoption and measure metrics to determine if the campaign is successful.