Brands
Yepme to fly customers to cheer West Indies for World Cup
MUMBAI: With the Cricket World Cup just a few days away, Yepme.com, an online fashion brand, has announced the ‘Fly To Australia and cheer for West Indies’ contest.
This comes on the back of Yepme announcing the sponsorship of the West Indies cricket team for the ICC World Cup ODI 2015, about to get underway in Australia and New Zealand. The West Indies cricket team jerseys will now sport the Yepme logo.
“We are proud and excited to sponsor the West Indies team in the ICC World Cup. Being the third largest sports tournament in the world, which will be seen in more than 182 countries, it’s a huge opportunity for Yepme to strengthen its vision as a global brand! We are also providing an opportunity to cricket lovers across the country to go and watch the action live at Australia. We look forward to a large number of cricket fans participating in the contest even as they browse the fresh fashion at Yepme.com” said Yepme founder and chief operations officer Sandeep Sharma.
Customers can participate by downloading the Yepme app and answering a question on Fresh Fashion. Up to 50 winners will be given tickets to Australia and a chance to watch West Indies team in Australia live, along with three days and two nights’ accommodation in Australia.
Speaking about the association, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) commercial manager Nelecia Yeates said, “We welcome Yepme to the West Indies cricket family of sponsors and partners for the world’s premier cricket event – the ICC Cricket World Cup. We look forward to a mutually beneficial association as the West Indies team remains one of the most attractive cricket teams in the world and will be one of the favorite teams in the World Cup.”
The Yepme app is available on Android and customers can interact with the app in Hindi and English.
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
