Question

Case Study: Uber Eats -Just in time

Uber Eats is an online food-ordering app that was launched first in Los Angeles, USA in the year 2014. The company originally started as Uber Fresh and later changed its name to Uber Eats. Uber, which is a well-known ride-sharing app, based company decided to try their hand in delivering food as well because they believed it would be a good opportunity for them to diversify the brand into a different venture. Uber did not want to restrict itself in the terms of only mobilizing humans with its fleet of cabs but it also wanted to go ahead with the idea of mobilizing fresh food. Initially, Uber Eats started with delivering meals only during the lunchtime but with time they decided to change it as an app that delivers fresh food both during lunch and dinner times. When a customer orders food through Uber Eats, a well-trained Uber driver will deliver the ordered food in special lunch bags which keeps the food items as either very hot or very cold depending upon the food item. The customers can conveniently track the progress of their order on their mobile screen (Carson, 2016).

Reference: Consumption of online food app services: An exploratory study among college students in Dubai Karishma Sharma (1) Kareem Abdul Waheed (2) (1) MBA student at Institute of Management Technology, Dubai, UAE (2) Professor of Marketing at Institute of Management Technology, Dubai, UAE MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL OF BUSINESS - VOLUME 13, ISSUE 4 OCTOBER 2018

1. Explain in detail how just in time approach works in Uber eats ( Food Delivery App).
2. Do you agree that just in time will enhance the services of Uber eats? Justify your answer.
3. How just in time approach will benefit the various stakeholders of app based food delivery system. Justify your answer.

Answer 1

a. Explain in detail how just in time approach works in Uber eats (Food Delivery App).

As we know, Uber eats is a food delivery app. They do not have inhouse cooking/restaurant services. Rather, they partner with food outlets and deliver meals once ready. In the just in time approach, production resources/ request is only made when there is a demand. Hence, in case of uber eats, they place an order with the partner restaurant only when the end customer places an order. With the approach, both uber eats and its partner restaurant stand to gain and operate on minimal risk. Of course, there is a 15-20% probability that the requested item is not possible to make in the time expected by the client. However, financially it’s a win-win situation for both the delivery app as well as the restaurant

b. Do you agree that just in time will enhance the services of Uber eats? Justify your answer.

Yes, as Uber eats will save costs for both themselves and the partner restaurant, the savings are invested as discounts given to customers. Additionally, more and more restaurant partners would connect with the app as they operate at minimal risk with the app. Needless to say, customers would be happy to apply promotional offers and get hot/cold/fresh food as per their requirement.

On a macro level, Uber eats is also contributing to reduction in food wastage- which is of key importance to any nation

c. How just in time approach will benefit the various stakeholders of app based food delivery system. Justify your answer.

The following are the stakeholders and their respective benefits:

1. Restaurant Partner (who make the food) – reduced food wastage, higher probability of confirmed/already paid order

2. Delivery executive: Gets sufficient time to do multiple deliveries in a single day. While the food is getting prepared for the next order, the delivery executive can complete their previous orders

3. End client: Freshly cooked meal, promotional discounts

4. Uber eats: Reduced costs, larger number of partner restaurants, confirmed demand