Bird Now Selling Its Own Scooters While Uber Freight Takes Over Shipping

Published on May 10, 2019

Tis the season for start up companies to turn over a new leaf into a new sect of their respective industries. Bird Scooter announced this week that it’s officially selling its own all-electric scooters on the retail market—and they’re surprisingly affordable. Meanwhile, Uber has officially entered the public market with a $45 IPO that brings the company to a market value of around $82 billion, according to experts. The IPO came shortly after the company launched its own freight service, called Uber Freight. Now, with food delivery, rideshares, and Frieght under its belt, Uber is planning to take over the transportation market.

Bird Scooters

The announcement that Bird plans to sell its own electric scooters directly to the consumer market came as somewhat of a surprise to many. The company saw a massive rise shortly after its launch just a few years ago. First available in Santa Monica, the scooters quickly started popping up in major cities throughout the United States. Now, you’d be hard-pressed to find a sidewalk that isn’t littered with the scooters anywhere in North America.

Since Bird’s launch, dozens of other companies have popped up throughout the world. In Mexico City, for example, there are a handful of electric scooter rental programs that range from Bird and Lime—the most widespread—to smaller, local companies with scooters exclusive to Mexico. Uber has even seen a gold mine in the concept of shared e-scooters. The company launched its own version of the service, called Jump, within the last year.

The logical next step was for Bird to monetize on the e-scooter market further by offering its own scooters on the direct to consumer market. Judging by the company’s growth, it’s become clear that consumers trust the company’s product to be reliable and user-friendly. The electric Bird Scooters, called the Bird One, that are now for sale come in three colors—white, black, and a dusty rose color. Batteries on the new scooter are designed to last twice as long as their shared counterparts, making the $1,300 price tag even more justifiable than before. The scooters can be purchased on the Bird website.

Uber Freight & IPO

When Uber launched its freight program—called Uber Freight—it became clear that the company had its sights set on something greater than the rideshare program it started with. Uber Eats revolutionized the food delivery industry just as Uber had done years before to the taxi industry. So Uber Freight was the logical next step in how the company would change transportation forever.

The freight program is designed to help shipping become a more transparent industry—particularly for shippers of mass amounts of goods. A program like this allows shippers to have full control of the shipping process. The program offers a way for shippers to connect with drivers, schedule shipping, and see where their shipment is at all times. For business owners, this has proven to be an extremely valuable asset as it takes away the worry that the product won’t make it.

Now, as Uber takes its company public, each piece of the puzzle will play into whether or not the company finally becomes profitable. Uber Freight has proven to be a lucrative program. But because the company has yet to become profitable, consumers are weary of the public shares—even if they’re offered at the affordable price of just $45.

Julia Sachs is a former Managing Editor at Grit Daily. She covers technology, social media and disinformation. She is based in Utah and before the pandemic she liked to travel.

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