Yahoo Finance Uber Eats hits customers with extra fee
Aussies spending less than $10 on Uber Eats grocery orders will face the extra fee.
Aussies wanting to pick up last-minute groceries on Uber Eats could face higher fees from next week.
Uber Eats has announced it will charge an extra $2.99 fee for customers spending less than $10 on orders from grocery stores, bottle shops and convenience stores. While this means the price of convenience will be getting higher for some, the food-delivery platform said the majority of customers would not be affected by the change.
“From Tuesday, December 5, where the cost of the items in the basket is less than $10, we’re introducing a ‘small-order fee’ of $2.99 on orders from these types of stores,” Uber Eats said.
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“As the majority of people are already spending more than $10 on items each time they order from a store on our platform, it’s not a change we anticipate will be felt by many - but it will allow us to operate a more efficient platform.”
The small-order fee will apply for Australians and New Zealanders, but will not apply to restaurant orders. Uber Eats noted it may change the threshold amount for the fee in the future.
Uber Eats currently charges a delivery fee, which varies depending on your location, who you are ordering from and delivery-worker availability. It can also charge a service fee, which is based on factors like your order value.
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Competitor Milkrun, which is now owned by Woolworths, currently charges a $5 delivery fee to customers and no service fee.
More Aussies are now getting their groceries delivered instead of going into stores. Coles and Woolworths both offer delivery services but with longer turnaround times and minimum spends of $50. That’s given Uber Eats - along with other delivery services like Milkrun, Doordash and Menulog - space to expand into the market.
Uber’s price warning
Last month, Uber warned it may have to increase average prices for food delivery and rideshare by up to 85 per cent if the government’s new gig-economy laws passed through parliament.
The government’s Closing Loopholes Bill would allow the Fair Work Commission to set minimum standards for employee-like workers in the gig economy, including minimum pay and conditions.
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