Uber reportedly planning merchant-delivery service with Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, other brands

Alternative cab service Uber is looking to launch a new service to deliver products from several merchants, according to a report today.

More than 400 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Hugo Boss, have been in discussions with Uber for the new program or testing it, TechCrunch said today, citing an unnamed source. Mobile shopping startup Spring is also on board for the program in line with retailers, according to the report.

The report includes a purported manual from Uber that describes a new app for a pilot phase of the program.

To test out the new service, drivers initially will need a separate phone to handle deliveries alongside UberRush on-demand package-delivery orders, according to the manual. But over time, Uber will integrate these two types of delivery requests into a single app.

A delivery service for products in cooperation with brands would make Uber a bigger player in the market for deliveries.

San Francisco-based Uber, which has already become a worldwide force when it comes to giving people rides by way of mobile apps, has already been doing more and more with delivery. Today, for instance, Uber announced the expansion of its UberEats program — initially dubbed UberFresh — into New York and Chicago.

Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.