How Many Deliveries Does Uber Eats Make Per Day? A Guide to Estimating Like a Pro

Introduction

Welcome to a comprehensive guide for aspiring product managers (PMs) who are preparing for the high-stakes FAANG interviews. One of the key aspects of excelling in these interviews is the ability to tackle real-world questions with strategic thinking and structured responses. Our focus today is on a data-estimation question: “How many deliveries does Uber Eats make per day?” Estimation questions like this are common in PM interviews to assess your analytical skills and your ability to use frameworks to approach complex problems.

Detailed Guide on Framework Application

For this problem, we’ll utilize the Fermi Estimation framework, which is suitable for questions where you need to make educated guesses based on logical assumptions and available data points.

Step-by-step Guide on Applying the Fermi Framework:

1. Define the problem: Understand that you’re being asked about the volume of daily deliveries for a specific service, namely Uber Eats.
2. Break down the problem into manageable chunks: Consider variables such as the number of active cities, active customers, average orders per customer, and delivery frequency.
3. Estimate each chunk independently: Use publicly available data when possible or make logical assumptions where data isn’t available.
4. Synthesize estimates for a final answer: Combine the independent estimates to arrive at a total delivery number.

Hypothetical Example

Imagine Uber Eats is active in 500 cities worldwide. Assume that in each city, there are around 50,000 active users. Each user might make an average of two orders per week. This estimate means that daily orders per city are (50,000 users * 2 orders/7 days) ≈ 14,286 orders. Multiplying by 500 cities gives us around 7.14 million orders per day.

Facts Check

It’s important to validate assumptions wherever possible. For instance, one might look up the actual number of cities Uber Eats operates in, which at the time of writing is over 6,000. Adjusting the estimate with real data can help ground your answer and show interviewers your research skills.

Tips for Effective Communication

• Clearly articulate each assumption and why it’s reasonable.
• Walk the interviewer through your thought process methodically.
• Use simple math that’s easy to follow.
• Be prepared to adjust your estimates with input from the interviewer.

Conclusion

By applying the Fermi Estimation framework to estimate Uber Eats’ daily delivery volume, we are able to approach the problem with structure and logic. Remember to validate your assumptions with facts whenever possible, communicate effectively, and stay flexible to incorporate feedback. Practice this framework to strengthen your ability to handle estimation questions in your FAANG PM interviews.