Here in Australia restaurant meal deliveries are a big hit, and just like Uber’s taxi service, it is only the consumers that win.

The delivery drivers suffer very low wages because they are not actually employees and not subject to a minimum wage. They also have high pressure to perform or else lose the gig.

Restaurants are paying large fees to get their food delivered, and suffering less table service, which is definitely more profitable for them.

Uber Eats etc are running at losses to gain market share.

Prediction: In Australia and maybe other countries like the USA, new laws will forbid single purpose gig companies from using contract labour. Such companies will struggle to fight this, because they would have to admit they don’t provide a minimum wage. And when the law comes in, Uber Eats etc will quit the game.

Then, because people have become so used to restaurant food, they will return to eating out, and levels of restaurant patronage will be higher than ever.

Then, when robots start doing deliveries everywhere, we will return to eating at home, and the deliveries will be substantially cheaper to provide, benefiting all…

…except we need to find jobs for the delivery drivers who are typically unskilled or recent immigrants.