Uber extends product delivery pilot in D.C., promises essentials in ’10 minutes or less’

Updated 7:28 a.m. PT to correct the launch date of the UberEssentials brand name.

After pilot testing on-demand product deliveries in Washington D.C. over the summer, Uber today reintroduced the service and now promises to deliver a handful of “everyday items … in 10 minutes or less” to D.C. residents.

Uber originally said its D.C. delivery experiment would “run for a few weeks” when it first launched in August under the “Corner Store” brand name. Uber started calling the product “UberEssentials” in October.

As VentureBeat has reported before, this service “mirrors numerous competing on-demand delivery services, including Postmates and WunWun. It appears that Uber, however, will handle all deliveries by car, unlike its competitors, which largely rely on bike messengers.”

Uber says it will offer its UberEssentials service on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET and on weekends from 9 a.m. to midnight ET. The service is available now for iOS users; Uber says it will arrive on Android “in a few days.”