Ride sharing company Uber has partnered with software company Oracle to unveil a new Collect and Receive service to offer last-mile deliveries in retail.

The new offering within the Oracle Retail platform is designed to connect retailers and consumers to transform online delivery.

The solution enables retailers to use the Oracle Retail Data Store Cloud Service with Oracle Retail Store Inventory Operations Cloud Service; Oracle Retail Order Management Suite Cloud Services; or Oracle Retail Xstore Point of Service to rapidly link to Uber Direct through pre-integrated APIs.

In addition to rebalancing inventory, the integrated solution enables retailers to offer more choices, including same-day and scheduled delivery options, order pickup and returns.

Oracle Retail customers in the US and Canada can avail the service.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: “Every month, more than 3,500 brands use Uber Direct to power millions of same-day local deliveries. Together with Oracle, we can make it easier than ever for retailers to leverage on-demand delivery—and even returns—to delight consumers, streamline logistics and ultimately boost loyalty and sales.”

Collect and Receive builds on Uber’s seven-year strategic cloud partnership with Oracle, which was announced in February this year.

Through this partnership, the companies aim to deliver new consumer experiences with last-mile logistics and boost profitability with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Oracle Retail vice-president Pat Bohannon said: “Together, we can improve the experiences and profitability of the retail industry by raising the bar to a new ‘premium delivery’ standard where the customer can determine where and when their delivery or return will occur. Combining Uber's ability to schedule deliveries in advance or on short notice is far superior to traditional last-mile delivery.”

Recently, Loblaw switched its SAP systems to OCI to modernise its information technology (IT) infrastructure.