Uber announced in a blog post the launching of UberRUSH, it's new delivery service that allows businesses in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco to provide delivery to its customers.
Businesses in these areas just need to press a button in their Uber app to get customers what they want and when they want it.
Uber said in the blog post that they are partnering with local businesses to improve their delivery so that customers need not waste too much time and gas doing their errands.
The online car-hailing company said that 20 percent of all trips in the U.S. are just to move things from point A to point B.
UberRUSH provides businesses with a feature to order and track deliveries instantly, according to the blog post.
It also allows businesses to expand their delivery zone and integrate businesses with existing tools and platforms.
Uber adds in the blog post that they have partnered with platforms such as Shopify, Clover, ChoNow, Bigcommerce, and BloomNet.
The company has also partnered with delivery.com, a local on-demand delivery platform.
Uber charges businesses $5 to $6 per mile for every delivery, according to the company's website.
The price depends on the area the business is located.
Uber adds in the website that businesses will only pay for the deliveries that they make and nothing more.
Since couriers don't need to do any roundtrips, UberRUSH allows businesses to expand their delivery zone.
USA Today adds that Uber has been slowly growing beyond just providing rides.
Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, said in a recent talk at UCLA that he plans to greatly expand UberRUSH and the new UberEats, a lunch and dinner delivery service, next year.
USA Today adds that UberRUSH is being positioned as an alternative service to local courier services.
The new service provides competition to company's like UPS, Federal Express, and the U.S. Postal Service.
USA Today adds that FedEx though is not worried about the new competition.
Mike Glenn, the executive vice president of FedEx, said in a recent earnings call that he "wasn't too concerned" about the new technology competitors.
