The Endless Opportunities Of Uberization
Uber is taking the world by storm, reinventing itself step by step along the way. The transportation giant is introducing interesting new concepts, making its own services more attractive while supporting new startups in the process.
Uber has been slowly rolling out its Developer Platform over the last two years, enabling developers (and everyone else) to integrate the company’s transportation services into their own apps to get users from point A to point B. Starbucks, TripAdvisor, United Airlines and Google Maps are amongst Uber integrators. Adding an Uber button means just adding a few lines of code. After a trial period, the sharing economy pioneer is on to the next chapter by opening up on-demand delivery service UberRUSH for everyone to get their goods where they need to be.
According to Uber, the move will power up new and existing on-demand businesses, integrating straight-forward same-day delivery whether you want to make 5 deliveries, or 5,000. Companies like Google Express, Nordstrom, and Walmart have already implemented UberRush into their services, and now the door is open for food deliveries, on-demand dry cleaning or drone rentals — to name just a few examples. Interesting innovations include Ryze, a 24/7 concierge app for hotels and Airbnb accommodations, that’s making use of Uber to get room service delivered to wherever you are.
Closer to home, in Amsterdam, Uber recently kicked off UberBIKE. In a city full of bikes, many people were reluctant to make use of Uber because they had to leave behind their bike. Uber’s idea was simple and genius — don’t feel like cycling, but you do want to go home? Request UberBIKE, and a car with bike rack will pick you, and your bike, up. In the States, Uber has introduced several concepts, from food deliveries with UberEATS to groceries using UberEssentials and Corner Store. Uber fastest growing service is UberPOOL, where people making similar routes can share the ride. This has also been opened up for API integration for developers, last May.
Amazon Dash Button
By opening up its services for integration into other party apps creates many interesting opportunities and will change Uber itself. It has been integrated into Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Echo, so people can order an Uber with just their voice. Amazon itself recently opened up their ‘button’ concept after releasing its Dash Buttons, a Wi-Fi-connected device that lets you purchase products by simply pressing a button. Now the retailer has expanded the idea with the AWS IoT Button, which can be programmed to perform various Internet of Things functions and people have now connected it to Uber. Want an Uber? It’s just a press of a button away…
Stretching a good idea to its limits or endless opportunities — what do you think?
