Uber Eats raised its Marketplace Fees March 11, altering a tiered commission structure that remained largely untouched since its launch in 2021.
On its website, Uber cited shifting operating conditions over the past several years and a need for reinvestment to support platform growth and reliability as the factors leading to fee changes.
“Operating costs have continued to rise as we work to provide a best-in-class delivery marketplace for restaurants,” Uber stated on its website regarding the fee structure change. “Uber Eats’ Marketplace Fees have remained stable over many years despite the pandemic and increases in costs to operate our marketplace. This increase in pricing will help us reinvest in ways to drive more customer demand for restaurants, courier reliability, and improved products and tooling to support your business.”
Two of the three Marketplace pricing packages saw commission rate changes as a result of the March 11 fee changes, each offering operators varying levels of visibility on the Uber Eats app and other perks.
The commission rate for the Lite tier grew from 15 to 20 percent; the Plus tier rate remained at 25 percent, but rose to 30 percent for Uber One Member orders; and Premium tier rates stayed at 30 percent.
For all tiers, pickup fees rose from 6 to 7 percent with validated in-store pricing; otherwise, those orders see a 10 percent commission rate.
Operators opting for self-delivery pay a 15 percent fee through the Uber Eats platform, unchanged from the previous rate. Additionally, custom Marketplace rates were increased by 3 percent from their previous rate, not to exceed 30 percent.
In addition to other costs, Uber said the fees go toward demand-generation initiatives — including discounting Uber One Members’ deliveries —, transaction costs for payment processing and insurance.
Competitor rates
The new Uber Eats Marketplace packages now more closely align with the commission rates of the three partnership plans available to merchants through DoorDash, which haven’t changed much since 2021. DoorDash’s Basic, Plus and Premier plans charge 15, 25 and 30 percent commission rates, respectively. DoorDash charges 6 percent commission for all U.S. pickup orders that comply with in-store price matches and other terms of service.
Grubhub also offers three package tiers: Basic, Plus and All-access, which charge 5, 15 and 20 percent marketing commission, respectively. For an additional 10 percent fee, Grubhub manages delivery with its fleet of drivers. Grubhub does not charge an additional pickup fee, but processing fees are applied to applicable orders beyond the marketing commission rates.
