Uber Technologies Targets Sparse Markets, AV Scale as Uber One Membership Tops 50 Million

Key Points

• Uber One membership surpassed 50 million, up 50% year over year, with members generating about half of bookings and spending roughly three times more than non-members. Uber plans to expand benefits and use the program to improve retention during price competition.
• Uber is targeting faster-growing “sparse markets”, where platform usage is about 10% versus 50% in core markets, while using a mix of premium, discounted and advertising-supported services to broaden demand and support margins.
• Autonomous vehicles remain a major long-term opportunity: Uber has access to more than 120,000 AV-ready vehicles, works with nine partners and expects 15 by year-end. The company is also expanding grocery and retail delivery, which has reached $15 billion and is growing more than 40%.

Uber Technologies NYSE: UBER CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company is maintaining a strategy centered on expanding its on-demand transportation and delivery platform, increasing engagement through memberships and cross-platform usage, entering less densely populated markets and investing in autonomous-vehicle infrastructure.

Speaking at the Communacopia conference, Khosrowshahi said Uber has grown its top line by more than 20% in each of the past four quarters while also increasing margins. He said the company continues to see favorable demand trends for on-demand transportation, food delivery, grocery and retail delivery.

“Our mission is still to allow people to go anywhere, get anything, and reinvent on-demand transportation in cities,” Khosrowshahi said.

Membership, sparse markets and product mix

Khosrowshahi identified expansion in “sparse markets” as a key growth driver. He said about 50% of the eligible population in Uber’s core markets uses either Uber or Uber Eats, compared with about 10% in sparse markets. Those markets are growing 1.5 times faster than core markets, he said.

Uber is also pursuing what Khosrowshahi called a “barbell strategy,” using higher-margin offerings—including Uber for Business, Uber Black, Blacklane, priority delivery and advertising—to support lower-cost products and promotions. Those lower-cost services include grocery promotions and two- and three-wheeler offerings in developing markets, as well as discounted transportation products.

Uber One remains an important part of the company’s effort to increase customer frequency and retention. Khosrowshahi said Uber has more than 50 million Uber One members, up 50% year over year, and that members account for roughly 50% of company bookings.

• Uber One members spend three times more than non-members, according to Khosrowshahi.
• Members are twice as likely to use multiple Uber platforms as non-members.
• He said some markets have membership penetration near 60% of gross bookings.

Khosrowshahi said Uber intends to enrich membership benefits through partnerships and mobility-related features such as upgrades and priority airport dispatch. He also described membership as a defensive tool in markets where competitors use aggressive pricing, saying member market position has remained more consistent than that of non-members during price competition.

Consumer demand and restructuring

On consumer conditions, Khosrowshahi said Uber has not observed customers trading down. Growth among lower-income consumer cohorts has been as strong as growth among higher-income cohorts, he said, while U.S. mobility growth has accelerated since late last year.

“At this point, the consumer for us remains robust, and we don't see any signal of that changing,” Khosrowshahi said.

The CEO also addressed Uber’s recently announced restructuring, which affects about 10% of its full-time workforce. He said the changes were intended to reduce management layers, limit small teams and speed decision-making.

Khosrowshahi said Uber plans to reinvest savings from the restructuring into the business, including lower consumer prices, improved selection and growth initiatives. He cited artificial intelligence and other productivity technologies as additional factors supporting the efficiency effort.

Mobility affordability and autonomous vehicles

For the mobility segment, Khosrowshahi said investments in safety and navigation tools are helping lower insurance costs. He said Uber is reinvesting insurance-related cost savings into pricing to support trip volumes in the U.S.

He highlighted discounted offerings such as Wait & Save, which provides a lower fare for customers willing to accept a longer pickup time. Along with premium products, these offerings are intended to broaden Uber’s customer base while supporting profitability, he said.

Autonomous vehicles represent another major supply opportunity, according to Khosrowshahi. Uber is working with autonomous-vehicle technology providers including Waymo, Zoox and WeRide, and has also invested in certain strategic partners, he said. The company recently announced a partnership with WeRide in Madrid.

Uber has secured access to more than 120,000 autonomous-vehicle-ready vehicles, Khosrowshahi said. Its investments also include fleet-management infrastructure, such as depots for vehicle repair and recharging.

He said Uber currently operates with nine autonomous-vehicle partners and expects to reach 15 by year-end. The company expects to demonstrate “no vehicle operator” partnerships with several U.S. players next year, while 2028 and 2029 are expected to focus on scaling.

Khosrowshahi said autonomous-vehicle economics currently need to improve because the model carries more fixed costs than Uber’s human-driver network. However, he estimated that Uber’s existing demand base could provide a utilization advantage of about 30% compared with a single-provider operator.

Delivery and Delivery Hero

Uber’s grocery and retail delivery category has reached $15 billion and is growing more than 40%, Khosrowshahi said. He said the company sees retail delivery as an extension of its food-delivery business, with consumers increasingly seeking rapid delivery of products beyond meals and groceries.

Khosrowshahi said Uber believes grocery and retail could eventually become larger than its core online food-delivery business. He described the broader retail category as a trillion-dollar-plus market and said on-demand delivery remains a small portion of it.

Discussing Uber’s decision to acquire Delivery Hero, Khosrowshahi said the company applies a high hurdle rate to acquisitions because of its organic growth opportunities, autonomous-vehicle investments and view that its shares are undervalued. He said Delivery Hero is a market leader in most of its operating regions and could nearly double the consumer audience available for Uber’s platform strategy.

He also cited potential cost and technology synergies from consolidating platforms, as well as the strategic importance of Delivery Hero’s presence in markets where Uber already has significant mobility operations, including the Middle East.

About Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER)

Uber Technologies, Inc is a technology company that operates a global platform connecting consumers with drivers, couriers, merchants and transportation providers. The company's core mobility business enables users to request rides through the Uber app, including options such as private rides, taxis and other forms of local transportation.

Uber also operates Uber Eats, a delivery marketplace that connects consumers with restaurants, grocery stores and other retailers. In addition, the company provides logistics services through Uber Freight, which connects carriers and shippers, and offers advertising solutions to businesses seeking to reach users on its platform.

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