Uber’s Hyderabad-based Eats Engineering team has led the tech development for ‘Merchant Stories’, the first interactive feature on the app, which allows merchant partners to connect directly with their customers.
‘Merchant Stories’ helps customers seamlessly discover the latest offerings from their favorite restaurants, while also assisting Uber merchants to display their delicacies. This feature has so far only been rolled out in the US and Canada and reinforces the ‘Make in India for the World’ vision of India’s tech centers.
Commenting on the launch of the new feature, Jaiteerth Patwari, site lead, Eats Engineering, said, “We understand a picture is worth a thousand words, and that it’s much easier to order an item when you can see what it looks like. We heard feedback from partners who felt they needed to build a direct communication channel with their consumers, and our team worked to build a solution that addressed their unique needs.”
Through this innovation, merchants can now sign up for the ‘Merchant Stories’ feature to post regular updates. They can upload photos and add text to tell their customers about special deals, menu changes, new services, or seasonal promotions.
The Eats Engineering team has led several global innovations over the past year, helping restaurant partners reach more customers, and in turn helping consumers access their favorite foods. These innovations include integrating leading digital wallets in Japan and Belgium during 2020, and connecting more restaurant partners to consumers when cities were in lockdown. The team also led the tech backend for a new line of business ‘prescription delivery’ in the US.