July 20, 2018 • 6 mins
Uber is partnering with a startup named Cargo to offer a selection of free and paid snacks and other goodies drivers can sell in the back seat. Cargo Founder & CEO Jeff Cripe talks about how the system works for passengers and drivers plus what the new partnership means for the company.more information:https://ktla.com/2018/07/20/startup-partners-with-uber-to-sell-snacks-in-the-back-seat/Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontechEasy ways to listen on your phone or smart speaker:"Hey Google, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Hey Siri, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Alexa, Enable the Rich on Tech Flash Briefing"
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Get full access to Rich on Tech at richontech.tv/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Get full access to Rich on Tech at richontech.tv/subscribe
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Free snacks in the backseat of your next Uber. What's
going on. I'm rich Dmiro. This is rich on tech.
Uber is partnering with a startup named Cargo to offer
free and paid snacks in the backseat of cars. Cargo
has been providing ride share drivers clear little boxes filled
with all kinds of products that they strapped to their
center consoles. They've been doing this for about a year now,
(00:25):
but this new partnership is a big deal because it
will expand their reach. Passengers use their phones to scan
a QR code on the box and shop for stuff inside.
The driver then hands them their goods when it's safe.
Recently I talked to Cargo co founder Jeff Kreipe. He
explained how he came up with the idea.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, So the idea behind it was, you know, twenty fifteen,
Uber was really starting to boom. Everybody was taking more
ride chair vehicles. I personally was spending so much time
in ride chair vehicles, and it just occurred to us
that like, there, you know, that we hadn't really sort
of innovated much on the experience of being in a car.
Uber made it incredibly easy to hail a car, but
the you know, the side of the you know, of
the car. The cabin of the car hadn't really changed much.
(01:03):
So we said, what can we do to sort of
provide a better experience to passengers, bring them arms length
convenience and put things that they need on a daily
basis at their fingertips while they're in transit, but do
it in a way that actually drives incremental earnings for
drivers as well. So it's you know, it's essentially sort
of like a mini like two sided marketplace inside the car,
and it's away for passengers to get what they need,
you know, easily affordably on the go, and for drivers
(01:23):
to make you know, anywhere from uh, you know, I
think one hundred dollars on average to our top drivers
earning about three hundred dollars a month.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Each cargo box averages about ten different items, about seven
or paid, three are free. I tried purchasing a few
items and I love the selection. It's all very simple.
There's no app to download, there's no sign up or
log in. You use your mobile browser and mobile payment
something like Apple pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo to
check out in seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So we do have those daily essentials breath fresheners if
you're going on a date, charge you know, if you've
been out all day and your phone is dying. You know,
energy energy drinks and things like that. If if you
need sort of a pick up, we have all those things.
But we also have early premium like electronics like earbuds
if you're headed to the airport and forgot your earbuds.
We have really cool beauty products in the car at now.
We actually have Patrology face masks for your face and
(02:12):
lips so that you can actually like turn your Uber
experience into a spaw experience while you're on the go.
We have fun beauty products we have. We have other
new sort of like snacking innovations that big companies like
Mars regular Kelloggs will launch and hopefully get into your
hands and have you fall in love with, as well
as things from sort of like cool emerging snack companies
like our x bar.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So what does this new partnership between Uber and Cargo
mean for the company.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, we launched the business about thirteen months ago,
and over the past thirteen months, we now have about
seven thousand drivers on the platform. A little over we've
distributed over a million products to passengers, and we've paid
out our drivers over a million dollars and this is
totally risk free and cost free for drivers. If you
sign up, it doesn't cost you a thing. You don't
buy products. So we've made that like a really nice
(02:55):
experience for drivers. And Uber, who we've been in contact
with for the past couple of years, I think, has
seen us to build the fleet, get into you know,
seven of the top ten ride share markets in the country,
and realize that this is really like an innovation that
benefits both of their key customers, you know, writers who
get better convenience and an upgraded in car experience and
drivers who are obviously earning more money with us. And
(03:16):
you know, we kind of put our heads together and
that said, you know, we feel like this is really
the right time to launch a partnership, you know. So
so today we're announcing a partnership with Uber, which is
really exciting it, you know for me as you know,
as a founder thinking about sort of the next stage
of growth for our business. Obviously, Uber has access to
tremendous you know amounts of drivers not only throughout the US,
but throughout the world. So this is a global exclusive
deal with them, so you know are we're launching LA
(03:39):
in San Francisco today with them UH. These boxes and
sign up for drivers will now also be available in
their green light hubs in San Francisco UH and in
Los Angeles, which are areas where drivers can go in
for support, for rest, bit, to pick up some coffee,
and now to sign up for cargo.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I wondered about safety because these products are inside a
box that only the driver can access. The driver has
to open the box, retrieve the goods, and then hand
them to the passengers. They're supposed to be stopped when
they do this, but what if the passengers get the
munchies and try to reach in and grab something themselves.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Take you know, precautions at every stage of our interaction
with a driver, from the moment they sign up to
you know, frequent communications we have with them, to communications
in the text messages. That product should only be distributed
when the car is safely parked. And I'm very proud
to say that we've we've processed over five hundred thousand
transactions and we've never literally had a single complaint from
(04:29):
a passenger about safety, which is terrific. But also you know,
we have made this device really easy to take in
and out of the car. All you have to do
is strap it down to the center of the center
console with you know, strong straps that we provide and
buckles that we provide that are attached to the box,
so you can actually, you know, at night, if if
you live in an area and you don't think you'd
you know, you'd like to keep this in the car
(04:50):
because there are headphones and other things people might want.
You can just toss this in your trunk or you know,
bring it in at night and you know, put it
back in the morning and twenty seconds or less.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
There you have it. Expect to see some more snackage
on your next Uber ride. And the free sample aspect
is just brilliant because that makes people curious. They want
to know what they can get for free, and that
gets them comfortable interacting with the boxes. Because even to
get the free stuff, you still have to scan the
QR code and check out on the mobile browser. If
you've ever been on Virgin America, it's kind of the
same thing. Even if you want to order something on
(05:21):
the touch screen, even if it's free, you still have
to order it and then the flight attendant brings it
to you, and keep in mind this program is optional.
Drivers are not required to sign up for it, so
if they're worried about people making a mess in their car,
they can just avoid it all together. Thanks so much
for listening. I'd love it if you could spread the
word about my podcast. Just take a screenshot of you
listening on your phone and then post it to your
(05:41):
Instagram stories. That's a great way for other people to
discover it, and be sure to tag me. I'm at
rich on tech on Instagram. And by the way, if
you're interested in seeing what the world's largest chevron looks
like with ninety six pumps and a fifty thousand square
foot convenience store, well it just opened outside Las Vegas
and I did a road trip there to check it out.
You can see my blog post and video on my website.
(06:02):
Just go to richon tech dot tv. I'm Richdemiro. I'll
talk to you real soon.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
M
Free snacks in the backseat of your next Uber. What's
going on. I'm rich Dmiro. This is rich on tech.
Uber is partnering with a startup named Cargo to offer
free and paid snacks in the backseat of cars. Cargo
has been providing ride share drivers clear little boxes filled
with all kinds of products that they strapped to their
center consoles. They've been doing this for about a year now,
(00:25):
but this new partnership is a big deal because it
will expand their reach. Passengers use their phones to scan
a QR code on the box and shop for stuff inside.
The driver then hands them their goods when it's safe.
Recently I talked to Cargo co founder Jeff Kreipe. He
explained how he came up with the idea.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, So the idea behind it was, you know, twenty fifteen,
Uber was really starting to boom. Everybody was taking more
ride chair vehicles. I personally was spending so much time
in ride chair vehicles, and it just occurred to us
that like, there, you know, that we hadn't really sort
of innovated much on the experience of being in a car.
Uber made it incredibly easy to hail a car, but
the you know, the side of the you know, of
the car. The cabin of the car hadn't really changed much.
(01:03):
So we said, what can we do to sort of
provide a better experience to passengers, bring them arms length
convenience and put things that they need on a daily
basis at their fingertips while they're in transit, but do
it in a way that actually drives incremental earnings for
drivers as well. So it's you know, it's essentially sort
of like a mini like two sided marketplace inside the car,
and it's away for passengers to get what they need,
you know, easily affordably on the go, and for drivers
(01:23):
to make you know, anywhere from uh, you know, I
think one hundred dollars on average to our top drivers
earning about three hundred dollars a month.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Each cargo box averages about ten different items, about seven
or paid, three are free. I tried purchasing a few
items and I love the selection. It's all very simple.
There's no app to download, there's no sign up or
log in. You use your mobile browser and mobile payment
something like Apple pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Venmo to
check out in seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So we do have those daily essentials breath fresheners if
you're going on a date, charge you know, if you've
been out all day and your phone is dying. You know,
energy energy drinks and things like that. If if you
need sort of a pick up, we have all those things.
But we also have early premium like electronics like earbuds
if you're headed to the airport and forgot your earbuds.
We have really cool beauty products in the car at now.
We actually have Patrology face masks for your face and
(02:12):
lips so that you can actually like turn your Uber
experience into a spaw experience while you're on the go.
We have fun beauty products we have. We have other
new sort of like snacking innovations that big companies like
Mars regular Kelloggs will launch and hopefully get into your
hands and have you fall in love with, as well
as things from sort of like cool emerging snack companies
like our x bar.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So what does this new partnership between Uber and Cargo
mean for the company.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, we launched the business about thirteen months ago,
and over the past thirteen months, we now have about
seven thousand drivers on the platform. A little over we've
distributed over a million products to passengers, and we've paid
out our drivers over a million dollars and this is
totally risk free and cost free for drivers. If you
sign up, it doesn't cost you a thing. You don't
buy products. So we've made that like a really nice
(02:55):
experience for drivers. And Uber, who we've been in contact
with for the past couple of years, I think, has
seen us to build the fleet, get into you know,
seven of the top ten ride share markets in the country,
and realize that this is really like an innovation that
benefits both of their key customers, you know, writers who
get better convenience and an upgraded in car experience and
drivers who are obviously earning more money with us. And
(03:16):
you know, we kind of put our heads together and
that said, you know, we feel like this is really
the right time to launch a partnership, you know. So
so today we're announcing a partnership with Uber, which is
really exciting it, you know for me as you know,
as a founder thinking about sort of the next stage
of growth for our business. Obviously, Uber has access to
tremendous you know amounts of drivers not only throughout the US,
but throughout the world. So this is a global exclusive
deal with them, so you know are we're launching LA
(03:39):
in San Francisco today with them UH. These boxes and
sign up for drivers will now also be available in
their green light hubs in San Francisco UH and in
Los Angeles, which are areas where drivers can go in
for support, for rest, bit, to pick up some coffee,
and now to sign up for cargo.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I wondered about safety because these products are inside a
box that only the driver can access. The driver has
to open the box, retrieve the goods, and then hand
them to the passengers. They're supposed to be stopped when
they do this, but what if the passengers get the
munchies and try to reach in and grab something themselves.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Take you know, precautions at every stage of our interaction
with a driver, from the moment they sign up to
you know, frequent communications we have with them, to communications
in the text messages. That product should only be distributed
when the car is safely parked. And I'm very proud
to say that we've we've processed over five hundred thousand
transactions and we've never literally had a single complaint from
(04:29):
a passenger about safety, which is terrific. But also you know,
we have made this device really easy to take in
and out of the car. All you have to do
is strap it down to the center of the center
console with you know, strong straps that we provide and
buckles that we provide that are attached to the box,
so you can actually, you know, at night, if if
you live in an area and you don't think you'd
you know, you'd like to keep this in the car
(04:50):
because there are headphones and other things people might want.
You can just toss this in your trunk or you know,
bring it in at night and you know, put it
back in the morning and twenty seconds or less.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
There you have it. Expect to see some more snackage
on your next Uber ride. And the free sample aspect
is just brilliant because that makes people curious. They want
to know what they can get for free, and that
gets them comfortable interacting with the boxes. Because even to
get the free stuff, you still have to scan the
QR code and check out on the mobile browser. If
you've ever been on Virgin America, it's kind of the
same thing. Even if you want to order something on
(05:21):
the touch screen, even if it's free, you still have
to order it and then the flight attendant brings it
to you, and keep in mind this program is optional.
Drivers are not required to sign up for it, so
if they're worried about people making a mess in their car,
they can just avoid it all together. Thanks so much
for listening. I'd love it if you could spread the
word about my podcast. Just take a screenshot of you
listening on your phone and then post it to your
(05:41):
Instagram stories. That's a great way for other people to
discover it, and be sure to tag me. I'm at
rich on tech on Instagram. And by the way, if
you're interested in seeing what the world's largest chevron looks
like with ninety six pumps and a fifty thousand square
foot convenience store, well it just opened outside Las Vegas
and I did a road trip there to check it out.
You can see my blog post and video on my website.
(06:02):
Just go to richon tech dot tv. I'm Richdemiro. I'll
talk to you real soon.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
M
Host
Rich DeMuro
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.