Your next Uber trip may have a minifridge

Riders can purchase snacks or drinks aboard the vehicle

In late 2014, Uber Technologies Inc. began testing a service called Uber Essentials. It was based on the premise that the most popular items from convenience stores could be made even more convenient.

“We were wrong,” said Jason Droege, vice president of Uber Everything. “In D.C., I sat in a car for six hours and got two orders. We discovered retail is not as simple as putting 200 items in a Toyota Highlander.”

Cargo Systems, the New York-based provider of incar commerce for Uber and Lyft Inc., thinks differently. Its Cargo box — sort of like a traveling minibar without the alcohol — is in about 12,000 ride-share vehicles; passengers who catch a ride in one that’s equipped with the box can buy snacks and energy drinks on their way to a meeting or home from a very late night.

Recently, Cargo expanded its accessibility, announcing a deal with Venmo, the mobile payment service beloved by the millennial set. Earlier this year, Venmo began working with merchants including GrubHub and Uber to let consumers transact with merchants.

“If you think who are the consumers in ride-share vehicles, they’re all Venmo users,” said Jeff Cripe, cofounder and CEO of Cargo. “We’re psyched Venmo selected us to to partner on their new product. Now customers can directly transact with us.”

Cargo got started in 2016 as a way to capitalize on the captive audience in a ridehail car. It now has $30 million in funding from backers such as Eighteen94 Capital, Kellogg Co. and Founders Fund. “In 2017, the world spent about 2 billion hours collectively in ride-hail vehicles,” Mr. Cripe said. “We expect that number to increase.”

According to data from the company, a transaction is completed every 5.39 seconds, and products reach 9 million passengers per month. Many of them are in the form of free samples.

Cargo’s boxes are in ridehail cars in 10 cities across the U.S. and in Singapore. (The company will announce an additional international city in the next two weeks.) The boxes are stocked with about a dozen products, which vary but could include Korean beauty masks and last-minute electronics such as iPhone chargers.

Many of Cargo’s transactions are food and drink, and they’re done in partnership with major packaged goods companies.

“We like partnering with Cargo because of the data,” said John Carroll, vice president of Coca-Cola North America. “We know what customers are choosing.”

According to Jayesh Shah, director of business development at Mars Wrigley Confectionery U.S., the most popular Cargo products from its inventory are Extra gum and Skittles. Overall, Rice Krispie Treats are the most purchased food product; a minisquare goes for 79¢.