Uber Eats announced Wednesday that restaurants and merchants will be able to chat with customers to prevent order issues. The app also introduces new AI tools for merchants, and invites users to send photos of their orders if the item doesn't have a menu image yet.
The new “live order chat” feature allows merchants to send real-time messages to customers to see exchanges of sold-out items, clarify special requests, and check in on dietary and allergy preferences.
Uber says users cannot start chatting with merchants as they can only send messages to customers if they first contact them. Live Order Chat is available for both delivery and pickup orders and ends when food is handed over to the Courier or customer for pickup.
The new feature is launched three months after Uber Eats rival Doordash announced its ability for merchants to chat directly with customers to resolve order issues.
As for new AI tools for merchants, Uber Eats is launching a customer-reviewed AI-powered summary to make it easier to understand large-scale feedback. Additionally, Uber Eats expands the AI-generated item descriptions in the menu to help users make informed decisions when deciding what to order.
Image credit: Uber
The app also uses AI to enhance low-quality food images by improving lighting, resolution, framing and plating. For example, if you have a food photo in your takeaway container, Uber Eats could use AI to generate images of the same dish on your plate.
Additionally, Uber Eats now encourages users to take photos of streams. The company says it is doing this because it recognizes that it is more likely to order food when it can see what it looks like. If your customer's photo is chosen and published, or if you live in the US, Canada, Mexico, or the UK, you can get $3 in Uber cash.
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To send a photo, users will need to tap the “Add Photo” button on the rate order screen after the order is delivered.