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A Vending Machine on Wheels: Extra Income for Ride-Sharing Drivers
It may not represent quite the contribution that food and beverage sales make to a movie theater’s revenues. But ride-sharing drivers have a way to generate ancillary income from passengers who otherwise are sitting idle in their cars’ back seats.
New York City-based Cargo provides drivers with boxes of snacks, drinks and beauty products to offer to their passengers. Now operating in seven U.S. cities, it has just crossed the pond via a new partnership with Grab, the largest ride-hailing service in Southeast Asia.
It’s the company’s first direct deal with a ride-sharing service, although it reportedly works independently with Uber and Lyft drivers in its U.S. markets.
The premise is pretty straightforward. Since passengers have already booked the ride via smartphone, they can simply add the cost of whatever items they take from the Cargo box to their fares.
“All of us spend so much time in ride-share vehicles that it felt like there should be a way to innovate on that experience,” Cargo CEO Jeff Cripe told CNNMoney.
For drivers, he added, making the boxes available entails “no financial risk upfront. All that inventory is provided for free.” It can represent up to $300 in additional income per month, according to Cargo’s website.
Cargo makes its money via distribution deals with brands such as Coca-Cola and Kellogg’s.
To those brands, the Cargo model represents a new distribution channel, said Forrester’s Sucharita Kodali. “The idea is that if people aren’t going to the store, bring the store to them,” she told CNNMoney.
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