Australia’s competition watchdog is gathering information on Uber Eats and its web of exclusive delivery deals after Mitre 10 complained that a Bunnings contract blocked a planned expansion of its trial on the platform.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it is in the preliminary stages of assessing the concerns and the broader online delivery sector, while Uber Eats has already tied up exclusive arrangements with Hungry Jack’s, Guzman y Gomez, Schnitz, Bunnings and Coles.
Mitre 10 said it began a trial with Uber Eats in October across 19 of its 384 stores, before Uber Eats told the hardware chain in February that it would no longer support an expanded trial because it had signed an exclusive deal with Bunnings. The ACCC confirmed it is looking at both the complaints and the deals done by Uber Eats.
The watchdog’s review matters now because the delivery market has become more concentrated. Menulog shut down in Australia in November last year, Deliveroo ended local operations in 2022, and Menulog customers are now redirected to the Uber Eats app under an exit deal. That leaves Uber Eats and DoorDash as the main rivals in a sector where exclusive contracts can shape which restaurants and retailers customers can reach.
Mitre 10 wrote to the ACCC earlier this year to report the Uber Eats and Bunnings arrangement, saying the issue went to the platform’s “scale and dominance.” Bunnings has denied that other retailers were stopped from using delivery platforms, but the complaint has pushed the regulator to test whether the contracts go beyond ordinary business deals and into anti-competitive conduct.
The ACCC says exclusive deals are common and only breach competition law if they substantially lessen competition. An ACCC spokesperson said the agency is conducting an assessment of the concerns and is yet to form a view, adding that it will not comment further while the review continues. That leaves the key question not whether Uber Eats can strike exclusive partnerships, but whether the spread of those deals, across restaurants and retailers, changes the market in a way rivals can no longer match.
