Latest news with #fooddelivery
CNET
16 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
Uber Eats Is Giving You a Taste of AI With These New App Features
Artificial intelligence features are popping up everywhere. From how you search the web to your photo editing skills, the bots are probably a part of your day-to-day by now. Now Uber Eats wants a bite. The food delivery service, powered by ride-share comoany Uber, shared a statement on Thursday about the rollout of AI features for restaurants and customers. A few of the updates bring Uber Eats in closer competition with DoorDash, which already has a few of Uber Eats' new features. AI won't control every part of your ordering and delivery experience, but you can expect to se some changes. Here's what we know. AI features for Uber Eats restaurants Uber Eats' new AI feature will enhance photos of menu items. Uber There are a few features that restaurants may find helpful. Uber Eats will use AI to summarize customer reviews for restaurants to understand customer feedback, create menu descriptions and enhance low-quality images of their dishes. Uber Eats says merchants will be able to review and approve any content before it appears on the app. AI features for Uber Eats customers US Uber Eats customers can earn $3 in Uber Cash for menu photos selected by the restaurant. Uber Aside from features for restaurants, Uber Eats is introducing a few features for customers. You'll be able to take a photo of your dish to use if the restaurant doesn't have a menu item for it yet. In exchange, you may get Uber Cash if your photo is chosen. This applies to US, Canada, Mexico and UK customers, and only for select dishes. US customers can get $3 in Uber Cash per chosen photo. Usually, customers will need to communicate with Uber Eats, instead of the restaurant, for any issues. But Uber Eats' new AI live order chat will let the restaurant directly communicate with customers once the order is received. The goal is to prevent any order or delivery issues before they arise -- such as special requests or allergy preferences. The AI features are available now via the Uber Eats app for both merchants and customers.
Independent Singapore
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- Independent Singapore
Grab posts US$20M profit in Q2, rebounding from US$68M loss as revenue beats forecasts
Depositphotos/Piter2121 Grab Holdings rebounded from a US$68 million (S$88.24 million) loss in the same period last year with this year's US$20 million profit. The company's second quarter (Q2) revenue of US$819 million beat analysts' expectations of US$811.3 million, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data. This came as consumer spending rose across its ride-hailing and food delivery services despite global economic uncertainty. Grab CFO Peter Oey told Reuters that affordability has been key in driving the business' growth. 'What we're seeing is that the more you make our products more affordable, it drives that growth, and it also shields us from some of the macro that you're seeing across the globe,' he said. The company said it's been working to attract price-sensitive consumers to its ride-hailing service while expanding its driver pool to meet rising demand. The company also highlighted strong growth in Indonesia, a market it once called underpenetrated, and is looking to tap into the country's large population to expand its share. Mr Oey said Indonesia is already profitable and that the company plans to double down on investing there. When Reuters asked about the company acquiring smaller Indonesian rival GoTo, Mr Oey reiterated it is not in discussions with the latter. In a stock exchange filing in early June, Grab denied media reports of a possible merger with the Indonesian tech firm, stating: 'The parties are not involved in any discussions at this time and Grab has not entered into any definitive agreements.' /TISG Read also: Grab rolls out first EV fleet of seven-seater BYD M6 MPVs for KLIA transport services Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only) () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
India's Swiggy reports wider quarterly loss on marketing cost spike
July 31 (Reuters) - Swiggy's ( opens new tab quarterly loss nearly doubled from a year earlier as the Indian online delivery platform spent more on marketing to attract customers in a highly-competitive market, its results showed on Thursday. Swiggy, a decade-old player and one of the market leaders in the food delivery business alongside Eternal's ( opens new tab Zomato, continues investing in the business through marketing, platform upgrades and loyalty programs. It is also pouring money into its quick-commerce arm, Instamart, as it opens more stores, strengthens logistics, and offers discounts. The company faced challenges related to lower availability of delivery partners due to earlier-than-expected monsoon showers in India. Meanwhile, marketing investments remained high amid "sticky competitive intensity," it said in a statement. India's quick commerce space is getting crowded with entrants like Tata-backed BigBasket and Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab. The food delivery space is also seeing rising competition with the foray of ride-hailing platform, Rapido, in which Swiggy owns a 12% stake. Swiggy's total revenue surged 54% to 49.61 billion rupees ($566.2 million) in the quarter ended June 30, while its consolidated expenses jumped about 60% to 62.44 billion rupees, as sales promotions more than doubled. Its consolidated net loss widened to 11.97 billion rupees for the quarter, from a loss of 6.11 billion rupees a year ago. Swiggy expanded to 127 cities from 124 in the previous quarter, added 41 stores, and continued scaling up store sizes. Gross order value from its food delivery segment rose about 19% to 80.86 billion rupees in the June quarter, while Instamart's gross order value surged nearly 108% to 56.55 billion rupees. ($1 = 87.5740 Indian rupees)
CNA
a day ago
- Business
- CNA
India's Swiggy reports wider quarterly loss on marketing cost spike
Swiggy's quarterly loss nearly doubled from a year earlier as the Indian online delivery platform spent more on marketing to attract customers in a highly-competitive market, its results showed on Thursday. Swiggy, a decade-old player and one of the market leaders in the food delivery business alongside Eternal's Zomato, continues investing in the business through marketing, platform upgrades and loyalty programs. It is also pouring money into its quick-commerce arm, Instamart, as it opens more stores, strengthens logistics, and offers discounts. The company faced challenges related to lower availability of delivery partners due to earlier-than-expected monsoon showers in India. Meanwhile, marketing investments remained high amid "sticky competitive intensity," it said in a statement. India's quick commerce space is getting crowded with entrants like Tata-backed BigBasket and Amazon. The food delivery space is also seeing rising competition with the foray of ride-hailing platform, Rapido, in which Swiggy owns a 12 per cent stake. Swiggy's total revenue surged 54 per cent to 49.61 billion rupees ($566.2 million) in the quarter ended June 30, while its consolidated expenses jumped about 60 per cent to 62.44 billion rupees, as sales promotions more than doubled. Its consolidated net loss widened to 11.97 billion rupees for the quarter, from a loss of 6.11 billion rupees a year ago. Swiggy expanded to 127 cities from 124 in the previous quarter, added 41 stores, and continued scaling up store sizes. Gross order value from its food delivery segment rose about 19 per cent to 80.86 billion rupees in the June quarter, while Instamart's gross order value surged nearly 108 per cent to 56.55 billion rupees. ($1 = 87.5740 Indian rupees)
The Verge
a day ago
- Business
- The Verge
Uber Eats is adding AI to menus, food photos, and reviews
The menus on your next Uber Eats order may be embellished using generative AI. The food delivery service is rolling out new features that aim to help businesses advertise and communicate with customers, which include AI additions to menu descriptions, food photos, and review summaries, along with a live chat tool and payments for user-submitted photos. The AI tools can be used to generate descriptions for menu items and summarize customer reviews to quickly highlight feedback regarding areas of the business that need improvement. Uber Eats also says it's using AI to 'detect and enhance low-quality food images' on menus, either by making changes to lighting, resolution, and framing, or editing the food onto different plates or backgrounds. The example images provided by Uber Eats suggest that this feature may also use generative AI to make adjustments to the food itself, such as expanding it or filling in any gaps when digitally re-plating. For menu items that don't have any images at all, Uber Eats will also now allow customers to upload a photograph of their own order when leaving a review. The feature is launching globally, and can be accessed by tapping the 'add photos' option on the rate order screen. Customers in the US, UK, Canada, and Mexico may receive a payment in Uber in-app credits if their photos are published. Lastly, Uber Eats is introducing a new Live Order Chat feature that allows businesses to contact customers directly to help resolve any issues with orders before they're sent out. Once an order has been received, merchants can then initiate real-time communications to clarify any special requests, check dietary or allergy requirements, or inform them of out-of-stock items to discuss alternatives. The user-uploaded images and Live Order Chat features could provide customers with a better idea of what to expect from their orders before they arrive at their door. AI-generated and manipulated content can be unpredictable, however, and we won't know how reliable these tools are until they start appearing on menus. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Jess Weatherbed Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All AI Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Ride-sharing Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Transportation Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Uber
