Uber Eats testing in-restaurant dining, because menus and waiters are so yesterday
Uber's food delivery service, Eats, is testing a new feature that allows customers to not only order food from a restaurant but, wait for it.... eat it there as well! The new Dine-in option is currently available in select US cities and is designed to give hungry patrons a way to "skip the wait when you order ahead".
You can find more videos on current tech topics on our video page.
In the future, those ordering food on the Uber Eats app will be presented with three options: Delivery, Pickup or Dine-in. An Uber spokesperson, speaking to Eater, which broke the story, said that by allowing customers to order and pay in the app, "we streamline the experience for both the customers and the restaurant." The key word there is "streamline". Given that the new option provides a way for Uber to take a cut of restaurant orders without having to pay a driver to deliver it. You won't have to pay the standard delivery charge if you chose to eat your food in the restaurant, of course.
We still don't know when or if this feature will roll out to other cities. For the time being, it is only available in Austin, Dallas, Tucson, and San Diego. Uber Eats launched in 2015 and had already generated $7.8 billion in revenue by the end of 2018.
The latest anti-social Uber feature
The new Uber Eats Dine-in feature will likely attract criticism for being anti-social, but the ride-hailing giant is not doing itself any favors here when you consider that this follows hot on the heels of its Quiet Mode - a feature that allows users to notify their Uber driver that they do want to engage in any conversation when they enter the car.
The Dine-in option for Uber Eats offers essentially the same thing for eating out, even if it is being marketed as a way to save time. It also allows Uber Eats to work with restaurants that don't offer takeaway dishes, where the only way to dine previously was to walk in, look at a menu and order a meal by interacting with another person - heaven forbid!
What do you think of the new Uber Eats feature? Will you be using it?
