Uber To Build Out Loyalty Rewards, Integration With Public Transit Programs

On Uber’s first analyst and investors call since the company went public in May, the company reported that revenue from gross bookings for the first quarter in 2019 rose to $14.6 million, up from $10.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Uber logged on average 17 million trips daily with an annualized gross bookings run-rate of $59 billion. Total gross bookings for the quarter rose 41%.

Despite the increases in bookings, Uber continues to see revenue losses. On Thursday, Uber confirmed that it lost $1 billion in the first quarter of 2019. During the company's earnings call, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said increasing the cross-promotion of the Uber Eats and transportation services will be one way the company hopes to recover and grow.

Uber recently integrated London public transit into its app, but the company also is in the process of talking with other public transit systems, including for the city of Denver. The idea is to get "every user every day in every city" to open the app in the morning.

And while there is no magic button that will make this happen, providing multiple choices of transportation to consumers will, said Khosrowshahi during the earnings call.

Electric bike and scooter rentals add to the options to build out "a whole transportation ecosystem on one app," along with a loyalty building program that will keep people coming back to use the services. Marketing plans are also underway, giving users multiple choices on how to search the app to get from one place to another, Khosrowshahi said.

The rewards program brings together Ubers services.

Uber offers a drivers rewards program in about 15 cities, but the revenue will be generated by the rewards and loyalty program for riders in the U.S.

Consumers earn points using Ridesharing and Eats toward benefits aimed at improving their experience such as price protection for specific routes, priority pickups at airports and free Eats deliveries. Consumer satisfaction reached about 85% since introducing the rewards program.

Khosrowshahi believes Uber will capitalize on the millennial generation. Many are not interested in driving and owning their own car. “The stats are something like 26% of 16-year-olds got their licenses and that compares to double what it was just 20 years, 30 years ago,” he said.

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