- DoorDash is marking its 10th anniversary this month with big changes to its app.
- New features include giving customers the ability to edit tips after the delivery is complete.
DoorDash is changing how it pays its 13 million gig workers, or Dashers.
The nation's No. 1 food delivery operator is marking its 10th birthday by unveiling several new changes to its app on Wednesday, including adding a feature allowing food delivery couriers to earn more tips. The company is also giving its gig workers the choice to earn their pay per hour, instead of by delivery order.
One of the biggest changes is the new "post-checkout tipping" feature.It will help Dashers increase their earnings potential because consumers can now reward them for "above and beyond" service after the delivery is completed, Rajat Shroff, DoorDash's head of product & design, said during a Tuesday media briefing.
"Consumers who are waiting to see how the Dasher provides service … now have a way to actually reward Dashers," Shroff said.
Customers can add or increase a tip for drivers on the app up to 30 days after delivery. DoorDash plans to poke consumers with "new nudges and reminders for customers to encourage them to tip and show their appreciation after their Dasher delivers an order," Austin Haugen, Dasher & Logistics Product Lead, said during the Tuesday press event.
But could this lead to tip-baiting, where app users promise large tips only to remove the funds retroactively once orders are complete?
Apps like Instacart and Uber Eats allow consumers to edit tips, up or down, after delivery. An Uber Eats spokesperson told Insider that only a "small fraction" of tips go down when consumers edit. Most adjust upwards.
At DoorDash, consumers won't be able to reduce tips after delivery, the company said.
That's good news for multi-app delivery driver Sergio Avedian, a vocal opponent of tip baiting who shares his gig-work experiences on The Rideshare Guy blog and YouTube channel. He drives for DoorDash and Uber Eats in Los Angeles. He and many other gig drivers have complained that it is harder to make money driving now, compared to the onset of the pandemic when orders surged.
He said it is "imperative" that the third-party aggregators like DoorDash "encourage the consumer by prompting them to tip their drivers on more than one occasion during the ordering process."
"The consumer has to be given the chance to tip after the order is delivered multiple times or given a reminder to tip the driver before the next order they place," he told Insider. The consumer app updates will gradually roll out to consumers over the next few months across the US, Canada, and Australia, DoorDash said.
DoorDash also said that it's expanding the rollout of a new Dasher feature called "earn by time," where drivers can be paid an hourly wage for the time they spend making a delivery.
"The guaranteed hourly rate is shown upfront, meaning Dashers who proactively choose this option will see how much they'll earn per hour while they are on a delivery," Cody Aughney, head of Dasher & Logistics Business Teams at DoorDash.
Aughney said the earn-by-time feature is designed for drivers prioritizing more consistent income.
DoorDash did not elaborate on the hourly rate drivers would be guaranteed. Shroff said the hourly wage differs based on each market where they drive.
Dashers can toggle between "earn by time" and earn by offer, Aughney said.
Other new DoorDash features rolled out this week include a global search option on the app and multiple cart orders. The latter allows customers to have multiple shopping carts going simultaneously, such as restaurant and grocery orders.
DoorDash is also launching SNAP benefits for online payments for grocery delivery with brands such as Safeway, Albertsons, Meijer, Aldi, and 7-Eleven.
Are you a delivery driver with insight to share? Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at nluna@insider.com.