Uber's partnership with Gopuff put to the test

According to a new report, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the recent partnership between grocery delivery company Gopuff and ride sharing giant Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER). In May, Gopuff decided to offer its food and spirits products at Uber Eats, thereby further expanding Uber's delivery capacities in competition with start-ups such as Instacart and DoorDash. According to reports, the FTC is concerned that the deal could impede competition in the online sale and delivery of alcohol and convenience products. More recently, Gopuff has expanded its reach with the acquisition of the spirits retail chain BevMo, which are used as delivery centers and stores similar to Amazon's fulfillment centers. In addition to its acquisition of Gopuff, the FTC is also investigating Uber's acquisition of Drizly. Drizly is a liquor delivery service that the company plans to integrate with the Uber Eats app. Uber has focused on entering the delivery service for several years and took over Cornershop and Postmates in 2019 and 2020. The company's core business, ride sharing, struggled during the pandemic, and Uber was eager to find an alternative, but the FTC is keen to get on the move. It's important to note that there is nothing wrong with the FTC considering a partnership or acquisition, but it's important to note that the company has a history with regulators. For example, the company has problems with misleading information about drivers' earnings and has previously been fined for incorrectly handling access to driver and private user data. New FTC commissioner Lina Khan's active stance on curbing monopolies could also hurt the company's plans. That means Uber's rapid expansion to secure its operations could be viewed as anti-competitive, whatever happens to ride sharing.