Three years ago, I wrote about Uber’s Amazonification, the evolution of the transportation company into a closed business cycle that sends customers back to other Uber channels. At the time, the focus was on how Uber created customer stickiness, for example, actively cross-selling customers selling food delivery into groceries, then groceries were put into drinking, and then drinking back into liquidity.
Today, Uber seems to have surpassed its focus on shipping and strive to be a handy super app-as-a-service aggregator, a daily lifestyle platform with its best products hidden behind the payroll wall.
Example: Uber will launch its first Uber One member day this week, the company's own version of Amazon Prime Day. Prime Day is a two-day shopping event dedicated to Amazon Prime members, a consumer promotional feast that causes people to spend more than usual on material objects because of the transaction!
Amazon has seen sales rise every year since launching the campaign in 2015, with the company estimated to exceed $14 billion last year.
Uber is still a long way from reaching this scale, but given the company's global business, logistics technology and network of drivers (whether it's performance or autonomy).
Uber’s first membership is from May 16 to 23 and promises to reach thousands of deals in Uber’s own lineup and a variety of retail and hotel partners.
Uber customers will receive a 20% discount on Uber Black, 30% off on Uber Reserves, and 40% off on Uber Comfort. Other transactions include:
"We want to create joy for Uber One members," Uber chief product officer Sachin Kansal told TechCrunch. "It should be a huge savings period for them. But for people who are not members now, it's a great way to introduce membership when they become members during this time."
Uber has been working hard to grow its Uber One membership base, with around 30 million members today. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a company's first-quarter earnings call last week that members "often have high retention rates."
"They spend three times as much as non-members," Khosrowshahi said.
When Uber is committed to more partnerships beyond food and grocery delivery (just check out its partnership with Home Depot) and combines those deals with its membership program, the company is reflecting on Amazon's development. Amazon was originally a digital bookseller. Then it starts selling everything. Now, it also has the infrastructure for e-commerce and digital life, whether it’s AWS Cloud Services or Prime Video.
For many, Amazon is a way of life. With the day at Uber One Mems, the company also said it wanted this to be universal. The bet is that the liquidity of asset lamps – not the packaging offered by Rivian Vans – could be the next backbone of digital consumer culture.