Uber is testing subscriptions for its food delivery business

Uber Toussaint Wattinne

Uber is considering rolling out a subscription model for its food delivery service, UberEats, according to one of the company's UK executives.

The Uber subsidiary, which is on course to do $3 billion (£2.2 billion) in sales this year according to a document seen by The Financial Times, has already been experimenting with subscriptions.

"We are constantly testing," said UberEats UK country manager Toussaint Wattinne during an interview with Business Insider in December. "We've actually run a few tests within specific cohorts in a few cities."

Rolling out a subscription could help to improve customer loyalty in the increasingly crowded food delivery market, which is being chased by other US tech giants like Amazon, as well as firms like Deliveroo and Just Eat.

It's likely that an UberEats subscription would allow users to bypass delivery fees, while also giving them access to promotions and exclusive menus.

Rival firm Deliveroo rolled out its own subscription service across the UK in November. It's priced at £7.99 a month and those that sign up don't have to pay Deliveroo's £2.50 delivery fee each time they place an order.

Toussaint stressed that UberEats is aiming to drive customer retention in other areas as well.

"There are fundamental product experience aspects and features that drive the majority of our retention," he said. "What makes you come back more often to the app is going to be primarily the restaurants you see, the reliability you experience, the speed of that delivery.

"So bringing in the layer of whether it's a subscription or a loyalty programme on top is not going to be what makes or breaks people coming back to your platform. I think being obsessed about this core experience and being obsessed about the quality of that experience is what ultimately makes your business attractive and makes people come back."

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