Uber Eats readies itself for Albany launch as regional e-commerce growth outpaces metro areas

Lazy nights at home for reluctant chefs are about to get a little easier with Uber Eats’ Albany launch just weeks away.

The global food-delivery platform has been dropping flyers in letterboxes around the city, announcing its impending arrival on November 15.

An Uber Eats spokesman said the company was “extremely excited” about bringing the platform “to small business owners and eaters in Albany”.

“Albany has many adored local restaurants and we wanted to provide a platform that is convenient for local eaters and visiting eaters familiar with our technology while helping drive demand for local businesses,” he said.

Since launching in 2014, Uber Eats has become readily available in many larger metropolitan areas throughout Australia, but its reliance on a high population density to support enough deliverers has made it difficult to establish a presence in regional areas.

The spokesman said e-commerce growth in regional areas had outpaced metropolitan growth so it was “no surprise” to see growing demand for the platform in a place like Albany.

“In 2022 rural and remote Australians increased their online purchasing by 6.4 per cent and 5.7 per cent year-on-year respectively,” he said.

“We believe that cities shouldn’t have a monopoly on convenience and we look forward to continuing to provide more convenience for residents and visitors in Albany, as well as to offer additional ways for small businesses to reach their end customer.”

Restaurants including Six Degrees, Chaya Thai, Venice and Sugbo Grill have already signed up with the platform ahead of the launch, with the spokesman confident more will join them “as they discover the customer appetite for e-commerce”.

The company plans to operate throughout the year and will “work with local businesses to align our operational hours with the hours of local businesses”.