Retail Media Upfronts 2024: Uber Advertising

Knowing your customer is a key principle of advertising and Uber Ads’ Head of International, Paul Wright, made a strong case for how it does this so brilliantly. Despite rapid growth, Uber has stuck to the principles of putting the customer first, getting people to places quickly and getting things to people quickly. It’s extended these principles to its ad business, which explains the 49% YoY growth in grocery and retail delivery in EMEA. “We have an unusual approach to retail media as we capture people ‘in moment’”, reported Wright. 60% of consumers go on to the Uber Eats app without knowing what they’ll order – so that requires an expert understanding of the user and a wealth of data points to guide the customer to decide. Looking ahead to the next year, Wright announced that Uber would be moving into AR ads on the Uber Eats platform, first impression ads, a spotlight menu and pre-checkout encouragement, as well as potentially looking at destination branding and off-platform exploration.