Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Ubernomics (B): Uber's Car Services

Rodriguez, Peter L...

Case

Ubernomics (B): Uber's Car Services

Rodriguez, Peter L.; Johnson, Randy

GEM-0141 | Published October 19, 2015 | 3 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Uber offered a variety of car services that varied by city. The full-range of services included UberX, UberBLACK, UberSUV, UberSELECT/PLUS, UberXL, UberLUX, and UberTAXI. The services varied by type of car offered and fare charged. In large cities, the option to select among a variety of private transportation services and car types existed long before Uber and other ridesharing services came on the scene. It seemed straightforward then that differentiation of service level must be profitable. But was the provision of this variety of service levels better for riders as well? What was the rationale for offering service-level variety for products and or services that were clear substitutes for each other? When did differentiation by service level make sense for both riders and the service provider? And how many service levels should there be?