Dive Brief:
- Uber Eats announced Friday it has linked with payments company Forage on SNAP EBT payments.
- The payment option will become available to all eligible grocery partners on the delivery provider’s platform when the feature launches later this year.
- The emphasis on online SNAP acceptance aims to bolster grocery services to people with limited food access, Uber said.
Dive Insight:
The Uber Eats changes are the latest moves by Uber to ramp up its grocery vertical as competitors such as Instacart and DoorDash roll out their own initiatives to capture more grocery dollars.
“At Uber, we believe healthy foods should be accessible to all,” Karl Hebert, vice president of payments, risk and identity at Uber, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Forage to provide our customers the same seamless payments experience they've become accustomed to on Uber when using their SNAP benefits.”
The announcement notes that Forage has a dedicated team of in-house experts to guide platforms and retailers through the USDA authorization process.
Uber announced in September that it would start accepting SNAP benefits on its Uber Eats app in 2024 as part of upcoming updates, including the chance to browse a virtual “sales aisle,” the ability to use healthcare benefits for payment and the option to use an artificial intelligence-powered conversational tool to help meal plan, order ingredients and find sales on grocery items.
Grocery is one of the fastest-growing segments of Uber’s business, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told investors on an earnings call in February, noting that Uber is building out sponsored items for CPGs in the grocery segment.
“The focus that we have now on grocery and retail is upsell to the Uber Eats customer. … After you've completed the order, maybe you want a bottle of wine from a nearby liquor store or you want some dessert etc. — it's those occasions that can introduce in a very natural way the Uber Eats customer to grocery and retail.,” Khosrowshahi said on the earnings call.
