Online food ordering platform Uber Eats stops its services in Hong Kong and shifts focus to Uber’s transport business.
Uber has announced its decision to close its food delivery platform in Hong Kong on December 31, 2021, as the company focuses on its transportation service provider Uber Taxi.
The multinational company made the announcement on November 30th to pull Uber Eats out of the city, conveying the difficulty of making the decision as well as its guarantee to help employees in relevant departments, restaurant partners, delivery people, and consumers with the transition.
“Whilst we wind down our delivery platform operations in Hong Kong, we are more committed than ever to growing our mobility platform in the city, which is home to our largest Uber Taxi business globally,” Uber stated. Turning its attention to the taxi hailing service, Uber added that it will keep investing to expand the pool to comprise more riders and drivers in the coming years.
Regarding the company’s past performance with its takeaway delivery platform, Uber Eats had the lowest active users in relation to its major competitors- Deliveroo and Foodpanda.
Simon Wong Ka-wo, the Chairman of Kampery Group, believes that the strike initiated by a number of Foodpanda delivery workers last month revealed the hidden workforce problems in the industry, adding pressure to the operators involved in the business.
Francis Fong Po-kiu, Honorary President of Hong Kong Information Technology Federation (HKITF), expects Uber to experience significant growth in its mobility service business, as Uber bought taxi-hailing platform HKTaxi earlier and now decided to set its focus on Uber Taxi.
Launched in 2020, Hong Kong’s Uber Taxi business is currently ranked No.1 globally and counts for over 25% of global Uber Taxi usage.
Featured banner image credit: uber.com
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