Uber Eats’ economic impact in South Africa has hit serious scale: R17 billion ($900M+) contributed to the South African economy in 2023, representing 3.5% of the country’s transport, storage and communication sector GDP. Drivers and delivery workers pulled in R2.3 billion through the platform, whilst Uber claims it created R1.6 billion in additional merchant value.
But here’s the more interesting story: Uber Eats is going hard on grocery and retail, with 275+ SPAR and Tops stores now live on the platform and plans to exceed 800 locations nationwide. That’s not incremental expansion, that’s a full-on land grab in a market where online grocery currently represents just 1-2% of FMCG retail but is growing at 50%+ annually, according to McKinsey and Trade Intelligence data.
The market dynamics are compelling. The World Wide Worx “Online Retail in South Africa 2025” report projects that online retail will exceed R130 billion in 2025, hitting approximately 10% of total retail sales. That’s a R130 billion+ TAM that’s still mostly greenfield, and Uber Eats is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer.
The unit economics story
Uber says the platform saved South African consumers 12.7 million hours in 2023. That’s a solid engagement metric; time saved translates to customer stickiness and increased order frequency. And the data backs it up: 80% of Uber Eats users say delivery apps are more convenient than other takeout options. That’s strong product-market fit.
On the supply side, drivers are earning an average of 57% more than their “next best alternative,” according to Uber’s data. The company hasn’t disclosed the methodology, but in a market with 30%+ unemployment, that premium matters for driver acquisition and retention.
The merchant side is where things get interesting. Uber claims R1.6 billion in “additional value” created for merchants in 2023. For restaurants, that’s incremental GMV without the capex of new locations. For grocery retailers, it’s instant distribution infrastructure without building proprietary tech and logistics from scratch.
The super-app play
Uber Eats is expanding beyond restaurant delivery into a multi-category platform, grocery, retail, and convenience. That’s the super-app playbook: increase category breadth to drive order frequency, which improves unit economics and strengthens network effects.
The 275+ SPAR and Tops stores represent meaningful supply-side density, particularly in urban markets where last-mile logistics are already optimised for restaurant delivery. Scaling to 800+ stores nationwide suggests Uber is betting on grocery becoming a significant revenue driver, not just a customer acquisition tool.
Consumer behaviour is shifting to support this. McKinsey data shows 26% of South African consumers planned to increase online grocery spending in 2024. And critically, adoption is spreading beyond the core 25-44 demographic into 45-64 year-olds. That’s late-majority adoption, a signal that delivery apps are moving from early-adopter product to mainstream utility.
Market context and competitive dynamics
The 63% of South African delivery app users who cite convenience as their primary motivation (McKinsey) aren’t just expressing a preference; they’re signalling a willingness to pay for time savings and friction reduction. In markets where traffic congestion and safety concerns make in-person shopping costly in time and risk, delivery isn’t a luxury purchase. It’s a rational economic choice.
That creates defensibility. Once consumers adjust routines around delivery, switching costs increase. The more categories available on a single platform, the higher those switching costs become.
Traditional retailers are responding. Shoprite’s Checkers Sixty60 reported 47% growth in H1 2025, hitting nearly R19 billion in sales. Pick n Pay’s online turnover jumped 60% in FY2024. But platforms like Uber Eats have first-mover advantages in logistics density, consumer acquisition costs already amortised across restaurant delivery, and the data infrastructure to optimise routing and demand prediction.
The infrastructure inequality problem
Here’s the challenge: platform economics work best with density, and density correlates with wealth. The logistics infrastructure enabling 30-minute delivery in affluent suburbs doesn’t exist in townships. Smartphone penetration and data costs remain barriers for lower-income consumers.
That creates a two-tiered market. Uber Eats is capturing value in high-density urban areas whilst large portions of the market remain unaddressed. That’s not unusual for platform businesses, you build density where unit economics work first, then expand. But in South Africa, with stark wealth inequality, that expansion timeline is uncertain.
The labour side is similarly complex. R2.3 billion in driver earnings is real economic impact. But platform workers are independent contractors, not employees. They’re paid per delivery, not per hour. They absorb vehicle costs, fuel, maintenance. The “57% more than next best alternative” metric needs context about what that alternative is and what costs drivers are absorbing.
What this means for the market
Uber Eats’ economic impact in South Africa signals a few things:
Delivery platforms are hitting real scale. R17 billion in economic contribution is meaningful. That’s not pilot-stage economics, that’s infrastructure.
Grocery is the growth lever. Restaurant delivery is mature. Grocery is still 1-2% of FMCG retail and growing 50%+ annually. That’s where the TAM expansion is.
Retail is being disaggregated. Traditional retail bundled product, location and logistics. Platforms are unbundling that. Uber Eats provides logistics; merchants provide product; consumers choose based on selection and speed, not location.
Network effects are compounding. More categories drive more orders. More orders improve logistics efficiency. Better logistics enable more categories. That’s a flywheel that’s hard to reverse once it’s spinning.
As other digital platforms reshaping South African commerce have demonstrated, once consumer behaviour shifts to digital-first, it rarely reverts.
The R130 billion question
With online retail projected to exceed R130 billion in 2025, there’s significant market share up for grabs. Uber Eats’ strategy, expand supply-side density, increase category breadth, optimise logistics efficiency, is textbook platform economics.
But execution matters. Can the company scale to 800+ grocery stores whilst maintaining delivery speeds and service quality? Can it expand into lower-income markets with different unit economics? Can it avoid regulatory scrutiny as it captures more market share?
The R17 billion in economic impact shows Uber Eats has already won in certain segments. The question is how much more of that R130 billion market it can capture, and how quickly.
Based on current growth rates, 50%+ annually for online grocery, strong adoption across demographics, 275+ stores live with 800+ planned, the platform is positioned to take significant share. Traditional retailers are scrambling to respond. But in platform versus product battles, platforms usually win.
Uber Eats’ economic impact in South Africa isn’t just about food delivery anymore. It’s about who owns the logistics layer for consumer retail. And right now, Uber Eats is building that infrastructure faster than anyone else.