Uber Eats is Back, Delivering Essential Goods During SA’s Lockdown
Trying your best to avoid the shops during South African’s Covid-19 lockdown? Uber Eats is making social distancing a little bit easier with the delivery of essential items to your home. That’s right, the popular food delivery service is back, with a twist!
Uber Eats announced its return on Monday 6 April and pledged to do its part to make staying home easier for South Africans who need to stock up on essential items, and the odd treat during, this difficult time. While the fast-food restaurants the service is known for remain closed, convenience food outlets and pharmacies have been added to the platform.
Uber Eats customers can now order a variety of items for quick delivery, with everything from grocery basics and treats to toiletries and basic medicine on the menu. While the service won’t bring you all your grocery needs for the week, it will help for those moments when you realise you’ve forgotten to buy something at the shops or don’t want to risk popping out for just one item.
The service offering looks very similar to before lockdown, complete with real-time tracking of orders, but delivery times are now limited for the lockdown period. Drivers will only be operating from 09:00 to 17:00 daily but Uber has also warned that availability of items on the app is limited. According to Uber Eats, the number of shops featured is still expanding and customers can expect even more options in the coming week.
Uber Eats announced that it will charge a flat fee of R25 to deliver essentials, with a R5 “small order” fee for orders below R50 during this period. However, upon checking the app it appears that some stores are available with no delivery fees for orders above R50. No cash transactions will be accepted during the lockdown and all orders must be paid online via card.
Uber Eats started offering “no contact” delivery before lockdown and will continue to do so during the lockdown period. This means orders are left at the door, with no direct contact between courier and customer.
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