This week it was revealed that Uber will add trains, buses, planes, and car rentals to its U.K. app this year as part of a pilot that could be expanded to other countries.

The plan is for Uber to become a travel “super-app.”

Uber, like most companies, was hit by the pandemic. Travel within states and cities almost came to a complete standstill.

Naturally, that meant demand for Uber and its taxi services declined…significantly.

It’s something we saw at LikeFolio, with social media mentions of booking or planning to book an Uber hitting lows not seen since around 2016.

And, with most places now fully open for business, the next logical step would be for demand to begin climbing back towards pre-pandemic levels, or at least head somewhat higher.

But that, as you can see, hasn’t yet occurred.

Consumer Purchase Intent Mentions are at +3% QoQ and -1% YoY. 

So, essentially flat. And it’s been like that since July 2021.

Now, back to the super-app plans…

The company said it won’t provide the new travel services itself but will let users book them through its app, with Uber possibly taking a cut of each booking.

So will the super-app help boost demand?

We say yes, probably. But, of course, you never know for sure how consumers will react.

Nevertheless, the company’s demand trend is something we should all be keeping watch on as more services are added to its UK app.