Price comparison service Parcel Hero has warned couriers to prepare for the “Uberfication” of the courier industry. 

The warming comes as Uber, the taxi app that has taken a huge deal of business from traditional cab firms, prepares to use its crowd share app technology to help customers find couriers. In a report titled “The Uberfication of Deliveries”, Parcel Hero warns that the UK‘s £7bn local courier industry is extremely vulnerable to the upcoming competition. 

“This report reveals that UberRush has revolutionised local deliveries in a number of US cities already, forcing rivals such as Sidecar out of the market, and Uber admits it is eager to develop its delivery proposition in London,” said Head of Consumer Research at Parcel Hero David Jinks MILT.  

“With £7bn of Same Day courier revenue on the table, there‘s no way Uber is going to ignore the UK market for long, which means existing local express couriers are going to have to be ready for them.” 

Uber is expected to begin collaborating with large retail names and may be able to make deliveries practically in real time. Rivals will face the added competition of Uber‘s well known user-friendly app, as well as its driver rating system. 

The news could pose a threat to retailers such as Argos and Amazon, which last year invested heavily in their own delivery services.  

“Why would Uber want to move into logistics? The answer is simple: Uber is the most funded start-up in the world, valued at $50bn; but runs at a loss,” Jinks continued. 

“The worldwide taxi industry is worth $22bn in revenue; but that‘s tiny compared to the domestic global courier and parcel sector, which generates around $246bn in revenue, a far more lucrative market. Our analysis reveals Uber is likely to capture at least 10%