Ride-hailing car doubles as mini convenience store

A new service lets passengers access mini convenience stores while using ride-hailing cars.

US-based start-up Cargo is partnering with Grab, a ride hailing app based in Southeast Asia to launch a new service called Grab&Go. The Grab&Go service transforms ride-hailing vehicles into mini convenience stores.

With Grab&Go, users can purchase convenience store products while travelling. Cargo’s vehicles offer a range of goods including sweets, energy drinks, charging cables, beauty products and over the counter medications. Additionally, through Cargo’s partnerships with brands, many of the convenience store products are free to passengers. The products are on showcase to passengers – they sit in a clear hardware case in the center of the car. To buy an item, passengers must visit the Cargo website on their smartphones. Next, they enter a unique code printed on the box and select the items they want to buy. There are many payment methods available, including credit card, Apple Pay, Android Pay and PayPal. After the passenger orders items, a confirmation text is sent to the driver.

Drivers who use Cargo earn 25 percent of commission on every retail sale they make. They can also earn monthly bonuses for reaching sale goals. It has no sign up cost and drivers do not have to worry about restocking the store. Instead, Cargo uses a proprietary logistics system to track the inventory of every store in real time. If a product is running low, it will automatically ship resupply to ensure stocks last.

As well as providing a convenient service to passengers, Cargo helps drivers earn more money. Other ride sharing innovations include a ride-hailing app in London that provides an on demand Porsche chauffeur. Another example is an intra-company carpool app that aims to decrease a company’s carbon footprint. What other creative services could ride-hailing cars offer passengers?