Uber launches ‘Store Pickup’ feature for those last-minute holiday shoppers

Uber launched a new “Store Pickup” feature for holiday procrastinators who may be in need of a little extra help with their gift distribution.

For a fee, customers can request an Uber courier pick up a purchased item from a store to be delivered to a recipient of their choosing. Customers must upload the item’s receipt in order to authorize the courier’s pickup.

The item has to be less than $200 and weigh less than 30 lbs — so there are some limitations to what Uber will allow. Prohibited items are, well, prohibited. And customers can track the item live in the Uber app.

Store Pickup can be accessed through the Uber Connect feature in the app, which also offers same-day delivery services. The company says the feature will be available starting today in 1,500 cities and towns, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay.

Though some of its futuristic projects and various side hustles have flopped, Uber continues to double down on delivery of all stripes, whether it’s food takeout, groceries, or courier services. Uber also offers package returns through its Connect feature.

This isn’t the first time that Uber has experimented with same-day local deliveries. From 2014 to 2018, the company operated a business called UberRush. The company even opened an API to allow private businesses to use it as a delivery option but never grew it beyond a handful of major cities.