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In today’s market, where convenience is the king, it's getting increasingly possible to get almost everything under the Sun home-delivered in urban India. But not the alcohol! Now, major players like <keyword id="19896956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="keywords">Swiggy</keyword>, Zomato, <keyword id="20069203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blinkit" source="keywords">Blinkit</keyword>, and BigBasket are eyeing this lucrative opportunity, ready to transform the way we enjoy our evenings (or feed our vices depending on how one takes it). As regulations offer hopes of loosening with the rising consumer demand, the question on everyone's mind is: will <keyword id="22432889" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="alcohol-home-delivery" source="keywords">alcohol home delivery</keyword> become the new norm? As per the media reports, the quick commerce platforms might soon start delivering low-alcohol drinks like beer, wine, and liqueurs, at least in some parts of the country. A report from the Economic Times reveals that states like New Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Kerala are thinking about trying out this service. Industry executives say that authorities are currently looking at the advantages and disadvantages of allowing alcohol deliveries. <h2>State authorities collecting feedback</h2>State authorities are reportedly collecting views from <keyword id="22432890" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instant-delivery-platforms" source="Orion">instant delivery platforms</keyword> and spirit manufacturers for assessing the pros and cons of delivering low-alcohol liquors. "This is to cater to a growing expat population, especially in larger cities, changing profiles of consumers who perceive moderate alcohol-content spirits as recreational drinking along with meals, and women and senior citizens who have flagged buying from traditional liquor vends and shop-front experiences as unpleasant," one of the executives told Economic Times. According to the ET report, only Odisha and West Bengal allow home delivery of alcohol at the moment. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Assam also allowed it temporarily, and it was successful despite some restrictions and hurdles. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111758782" title="Zomato and Swiggy increase platform fee by 20% – food deliveries to get costlier" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2>Enthusiasm grows across sectors</h2>Retail industry executives say that online alcohol deliveries have increased sales by 20-30% in West Bengal and Odisha. Although the idea of online home delivery of liquor faced several challenges including political backlash and pressure from physical retail bodies. For now Swiggy and Spencer’s retail delivers spirits in West Bengal. Dinker Vashisht, vice president of corporate affairs at Swiggy said “Online models ensure end-to-end transaction records, age verification and adhere to limits. Further, online tech stacks synchronise with regulatory and excise requirements, ensuring adherence to timings, dry days and zonal delivery guardrails” Beer manufacturers like United Breweries and AB InBev are also interested in this concept, an industry executive told ET. “Beer blends more with grocery shopping, especially for consumers in big cities, and needs to be chilled, which limits its visibility in liquor vends.” In 2020, AB InBev started Beerbox, a platform that listed places delivering alcohol within a 3-4 km range. This was after Maharashtra temporarily allowed home deliveries during the pandemic. Overall, as regulations, consumer demand, and the capacity of online quick-commerce platforms align, the days of cancelling the evening plans to avoid stepping out to buy alcohol might soon be behind us. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/jio-financials-gets-rbi-nod-to-become-core-investment-company/articleshow/111677548.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Jio Financials gets RBI nod to become Core Investment Company</a>

Will alcohol home delivery be a reality soon? Swiggy, Zomato, and Blinkit smell an opportunity

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Research shows that ordering food for delivery has gotten expensive, yet demand remains high.</li><li>Pandemic habits and time-saving needs drive consumers to prioritize convenience.</li></ul>Convenience comes up with a pretty hefty cost these days.There's now a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ordering-food-through-uber-eats-doordash-gotten-wildly-expensive-2024-9">considerable difference in spending</a> between eating out and getting your meal delivered. But demand for food delivery has remained high — as has its price.The personal finance site FinanceBuzz did <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://financebuzz.com/compare-costs-food-delivery-apps">an experiment</a> in September and found that based on the cost to deliver an entrée, a side, and a drink from 10 popular chains on the same day within 3 miles — organizing dinner with an app such as DoorDash, Grubhub, UberEats or Postmates can cost almost double what it would to collect it yourself. This is when factoring in charges for food, fees, taxes, and suggested tips. Business Insider contacted these delivery companies for comment. Both Uber — which owns UberEats and Postmates — and Grubhub pointed out that restaurants also often set the menu prices for delivery, and these may sometimes be higher than when purchasing in-store. Still, diners aren't necessarily being deterred by the much higher prices.Last week, food delivery company DoorDash, reported an 18% rise in orders year over year in its third quarter of 2024. Revenue grew 25% to $2.7 billion in the same period.While Uber doesn't split out the results of its individual delivery companies, it saw gross bookings for its delivery segment grow by 16% year on year in Q3.So, why has delivery gotten this expensive?<h2 id="ef2204e7-2a73-4ce1-b97e-9e59db13fb63">Consumer competition</h2>"As app delivery has become more popular, apps have to pay more to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drive-for-uber-eats-after-layoff-would-not-recommend-2024-7">drivers</a> to convince them to make deliveries for their team — with many drivers juggling multiple apps throughout their shifts," Anthony Miyazaki, a professor of marketing at Florida International University, told Business Insider."At the same time, demand for delivery pushed consumers to unknowingly compete against each other, with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-to-tip-food-delivery-driver-doordash-ubereats-2023-7">a willingness to pay more for delivery and more for tips</a> to get their food delivered on time," he said. A food delivery driver <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-delivery-driver-gets-big-tips-declines-orders-wealthy-areas-2023-4">previously told BI</a> that he decides to accept or pass on a variety of deliveries often based on the highest upfront tips.<div type="image" title="food on a table from doordash delivery service" height="528" width="772" msid="114979379" hostid="261" sizebytes="27174"></div>This led delivery app companies to take a higher cut from restaurants and raise fees for customers, while at the same time, drivers are looking for higher tips, Miyazaki explained, which all results in a much pricier food order.Matched with inflation resulting in the soaring prices of labor and commodities, many chains — including Starbucks, McDonald's, KFC, In-N-Out, and Olive Garden — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-price-rises-tipping-point-value-deals-combos-mcdonalds-2024-8">have increased the cost of menu items</a>.There are a couple of reasons that, despite the hikes, Americans are still choosing the ease of using an app to get dinner.<h2 id="5a6cf862-4bfe-4ddc-b330-71cd4f343f80">Creatures of habit</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/changes-restaurants-pandemic-qr-codes-self-service-kiosks-2024-10">The way we dined changed</a> following the COVID-19 pandemic.But despite lockdowns coming to an end and the country gradually opening back up, people grew accustomed to the trend of ordering food."The pandemic has shifted dining habits, leading more consumers to seek out restaurant-quality meals at home," Alon Chen, CEO of Tastewise, a consumer data platform for food and beverage brands, said."Consumers now consider ordering takeout as a time-saving experience akin to dining out but in the coziness of one's living room," he said.For Miyazaki, because of the rise of streaming, more are comfortable with 'entertaining in' rather than going out for a meal."Also, with more people working from home, they're likely further from lunchtime restaurants and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-from-home-lunch-experts-broken-not-take-breaks-2024-9">don't feel the need to get away from the office anymore for their lunch break</a>," he said.<h2 id="ad899ce2-c371-4933-b511-e71d9133d92b">Time is money</h2>Oliver Wright, a senior managing director and the global lead for consumer goods and services at Accenture, explained that consumers feel "time-poor."This means that although <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cutting-out-cost-of-convenience-for-a-month-2021-11">more money is spent on ordering food</a> than cooking or eating in a restaurant, the customer is saving time, he told BI.The degree to which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-doordash-instacart-still-delivering-lots-as-consumers-pull-back-2024-8">convenience and ease are playing on consumers' minds</a> to alleviate time pressure has become especially relevant in recent years, Wright said, to the extent that people are willing to spend more if time is saved."Feeling 'time-poor' is a really dominant attribute," he said."The value of time might be very high," Chris Olivola, an associate professor of marketing at Tepper School of Business, told BI.He said that for the rational consumer, whether because of the amount of money earned per hour, how much importance is given to an activity, or the contribution being made to a company, these food delivery apps are popular because of how they assess their time.It's also about expertise, he said."You might be a good cook, but if you want Thai food and you don't know how to cook Thai, you have to teach yourself, Olivola said, "and that takes time."

Food deliveries keep getting more expensive — but we can't stop ordering       

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ordering <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-delivery-reckoning-is-here-doordash-uber-instacart-gig-work-2024-7">food for delivery</a> can cost twice as much as dining in.</li><li>Some diners say it's enough to make them go get food themselves and save money.</li></ul>The price gap between getting your food yourself at a restaurant and having <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-delivery-driver-gets-big-tips-declines-orders-wealthy-areas-2023-4">dinner delivered</a> has become huge. That's forcing some people to cut back.Others say it's worth the extra cost.Ravi Wadan, a personal finance content creator in Seattle, posted a video on TikTok in February showing the cost of ordering a porchetta sandwich from a local deli through <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drive-for-uber-eats-after-layoff-would-not-recommend-2024-7">Uber Eats</a>.The sandwich alone cost $19 through the Uber Eats app, according to the video — a $3 premium compared to what the deli itself charges. But with a service fee, taxes, and a separate fee that Uber Eats added in response to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seattle-gig-worker-new-law-advocate-instacart-job-deactivation-2024-2">Seattle's law on gig worker pay</a>, the cost of the sandwich comes to just over $34. A tip would raise the price even more, he told Business Insider in an interview. Instead of paying twice as much for delivery, Wadan said he now walks the four blocks to the deli to get the sandwich himself. "What's the cost-benefit analysis here? Is it worth me spending 10 minutes walking down the street and saving 20 bucks?" he said. "For me, it is."An Uber spokesperson said that the company operates "a dynamic marketplace" and that the fees on Wadan's order are "not representative of the national average."Uber tries to provide "selection, reliability, and value," the spokesperson said. "Everyone wants to know that when they open the Uber Eats app, they'll find what they're looking for and trust it will be delivered in a timely fashion at a price that works for them."There have been plenty of signs lately suggesting that many low- and middle-income diners are pulling back on spending. Fast-food chains like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/restaurants-are-competing-to-offer-the-cheapest-meals-2024-5">McDonald's and Taco Bell</a> are offering revamped value options, hoping to lure in diners on a budget.Many diners are even driving themselves to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dominos-customers-increasingly-picking-up-pizzas-amid-high-delivery-costs-2024-7">Domino's to pick up their own pizzas</a> to save money on delivery costs, the company's CEO told BI in July.The premium that diners pay to have their food delivered can be hefty. A study from FinanceBuzz in January found that orders from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-postmates-food-delivery-costs-twice-as-much-as-pickup-2024-1">McDonald's and Chick-fil-A can cost twice as much</a> through delivery services like DoorDash and Postmates as they would at the restaurant, for instance.That might make delivery seem like an obvious place for consumers to cut back their spending these days.But the delivery companies say that's not actually happening.Both DoorDash and Uber reported earnings this summer that surpassed analysts' expectations — and showed that lots of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-doordash-instacart-still-delivering-lots-as-consumers-pull-back-2024-8">people are still willing to pay for delivery</a>, even if they're being more thrifty in other areas."We're seeing really strong demand on the consumer side," DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said on the company's earnings call in August. "We're not actually seeing some of the challenges that you may be hearing about or reading about in other headlines."DoorDash customers have continued ordering food — and, increasingly, groceries and other products — from the service, Xu said. Both DoorDash and Uber Eats have also seen growth in their subscription programs, which come with a monthly fee but offer discounts on individual orders, among <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://ir.doordash.com/news/news-details/2024/DoorDash-Partners-with-Max-to-Introduce-First-Ever-Streaming-Benefit-for-DashPass-Members-in-the-U.S/default.aspx">other benefits</a>."By any objective measure, we have not seen a consumer pullback, either broadly or in our own results," a DoorDash spokesperson told BI. "Consumers across very different economic environments are willing to pay for what they value, and we've improved our platform to serve more use cases, to get those things to you at a lower cost, and to make sure you get what you want when you want it."Uber, meanwhile, hasn't seen its customers stop using the platform for delivery or rideshare, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during the company's earnings call last month. Uber's clientele skews more affluent, he said, though the company hasn't even seen a drop-off with lower-income customers."It's clear that delivery is much more habitual than many assumed," Khosrowshahi said.Even Wadan, the content creator who posted on TikTok, said he still uses delivery sometimes. He and his wife still have Thai food delivered, for instance, when they have friends over in the evenings and don't want to interrupt socializing with a trip to pick up dinner."There are certain instances where we just order the food because it's convenient and it just makes sense," he said.Do you work for a gig delivery service and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:abitter@businessinsider.com">abitter@businessinsider.com</a>

Ordering delivery has gotten wildly expensive

As India gears up for its vibrant festive season, a notable surge in <keyword id="23052492" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="seasonal-hiring" source="keywords">seasonal hiring</keyword> is taking place across various industries, with gig roles leading the charge. According to data from job site Indeed, seasonal hiring is projected to rise by 20% this year compared to last, driven primarily by <keyword id="19990771" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce" source="keywords">e-commerce</keyword>, logistics, and retail sectors, as companies prepare for heightened consumer demand. Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales at Indeed India, emphasised, "The festive season is a crucial period for businesses across India, and we're seeing a significant uptick in hiring for seasonal roles as companies prepare to meet heightened consumer demand." <h3 style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">What is gig work?</h3>Gig work refers to flexible, short-term, or freelance employment often facilitated by digital platforms. Unlike traditional full-time jobs, gig workers are hired on a project basis, allowing them to work for multiple employers or companies as needed. These roles are popular in industries like food delivery, transportation, and logistics. During India's <keyword id="21015356" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festival-season" source="keywords">festival season</keyword>, when businesses experience a spike in demand, gig workers play an essential role in ensuring smooth operations across sectors like retail and e-commerce. <h3>Gig labour during festival season</h3>The festive season in India, spanning from September to December, is one of the busiest times of the year for businesses. As a result, companies ramp up hiring to cope with increased sales and customer demand. Seasonal roles in delivery, logistics, warehouse operations, and customer support see the highest demand, as businesses focus on timely deliveries, inventory management, and customer satisfaction. Indeed's data reveals that the top gig roles witnessing a rise in hiring this season include <keyword id="21462485" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delivery-executives" source="keywords">delivery executives</keyword>, <keyword id="22103182" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="warehouse-workers" source="keywords">warehouse workers</keyword>, <keyword id="23052493" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="logistics-coordinators" source="keywords">logistics coordinators</keyword>, <keyword id="23052494" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="in-store-sales-executives" source="keywords">in-store sales executives</keyword>, and customer care executives. While major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi see a steady increase in demand for gig workers (18-20%), tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Nagpur, Jaipur, and Vadodara are emerging as key contributors, witnessing a hiring surge of 22-25%. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112999246" title="As fast as some jobs are growing, others are losing steam" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h3><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> major contributor</h3>One of the standout examples this festive season is Meesho, a leading e-commerce marketplace in India. According to sources, the platform has enabled around 8.5 lakh seasonal job opportunities, representing a 70% increase from last year. Of these, 5 lakh jobs were created within Meesho's seller network, while another 3.5 lakh jobs emerged in the logistics sector. Sourabh Pandey, CXO of Fulfilment and Experience at Meesho, shared, "This festive season, we are particularly thrilled to have enabled 8.5 lakh seasonal jobs, especially in tier-3 and beyond cities. Empowering SMBs, local manufacturers, and logistics providers to scale their business is resulting in meaningful economic opportunities that are driving financial inclusion in these regions." Meesho has reportedly also partnered with prominent third-party logistics providers such as Delhivery, Ecom Express, and Shadowfax to meet the increased demands of the festive season. These collaborations have not only expanded logistics capacity but also helped generate gig opportunities in first-mile, middle-mile, and delivery associate roles. Abhishek Bansal, CEO &amp; Co-founder of Shadowfax, commented, "We are particularly excited to nearly double our capacity across several value-added services, such as Reverse Quality Check-Based Pickups and Hand-to-Hand Doorstep Exchange. These efforts ensure smooth deliveries and returns during the festive rush." <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112720685" title="If you want to find a job, it&amp;#39;s time to specialize" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h3 style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">The future of gig work in India</h3>The rapid rise in <keyword id="23052491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gig-hiring" source="keywords">gig hiring</keyword> reflects the evolving needs of today's consumers, particularly during high-demand periods like the festive season. The e-commerce industry, which saw a 35% rise in demand for seasonal workers, is expected to continue driving this trend, with logistics and retail sectors close behind. "The industries that are growing — e-commerce, logistics, quick commerce — are doing so because they're aligned with the needs and behaviours of today's consumers,” Sashi Kumar explains. “This is where the future of India's <keyword id="19916569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="job-market" source="keywords">job market</keyword> could be heading". With a flurry of companies contributing significantly to job creation, particularly in tier-3 and tier-4 cities, gig work is becoming a vital source of employment across the country. As India's job market evolves, gig work is likely to play an even larger role in shaping the future of work, offering flexibility and economic opportunity to millions of workers. (With inputs from agencies)

E-commerce is expected to help seasonal hiring for gig roles surge by 20% this festival season: reports

<keyword id="19896956" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Swiggy" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> is a popular choice for Indians when it comes to getting food delivered. The company's founder recently revealed that the decade-old startup partners with over 3 lakh <keyword id="19980908" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="restaurants" source="keywords">restaurants</keyword> today. But were things always this bright with the <keyword id="20299302" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-delivery" source="keywords">food delivery</keyword> platform? Not really. On its first day, the company had 0 <keyword id="20198062" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="orders" source="keywords">orders</keyword>. <h2>Swiggy's journey through its founder's lens</h2>Founded in 2014, Swiggy started with modest aspirations. The company's co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety revealed the startup's journey in a LinkedIn post recently as Swiggy marked its 10th anniversary. Majety reminisced about the humble beginnings when the concept of food delivery was still new in India. “When we launched Swiggy on August 6, 2014, we ended the day with zero orders. The next day, we received our first-ever order, marking the true beginning of our journey,” he wrote, recalling how the company's journey started with just one order. One of the first restaurants to partner with Swiggy was Truffles, a well-known eatery in Bangalore, which began with just two daily orders on the platform. Today, Swiggy’s network has grown exponentially, boasting partnerships with over 300,000 restaurants across the country. Majety also expressed deep gratitude to the early partners who believed in Swiggy’s vision when the concept of on-demand food delivery was still in its infancy. He acknowledged that these early collaborators were more than just business partners; they were integral to Swiggy’s foundation and its evolution into the industry leader it is today. “Their trust and partnership have been invaluable, and they are like core founding team members who helped create food delivery in India as we know it today,” he wrote in the LinkedIn post, highlighting the importance of collaboration in the company’s success. <h2>Swiggy's stock market debut</h2>As Swiggy celebrates this significant milestone, it does so on the cusp of another major event: its anticipated stock market debut. With <keyword id="19901323" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>, its primary competitor, already listed, Swiggy’s entry into the stock market is eagerly awaited. Speaking at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave, Majety had reflected on the implications of having a listed competitor. He noted the advantages, such as not needing to explain the fundamentals of the on-demand economy, as well as the challenges, particularly the inevitable comparisons that will arise with each quarterly performance report. As of April 2024, Swiggy has achieved a valuation of USD 12.7 billion, a figure that underscores the company’s impressive growth trajectory over the past decade. Thus, from its beginnings with a single order to becoming a leading player in India’s food delivery market, Swiggy’s journey is an inspiration for all startup founders out there.

Swiggy co-founder reveals the company had 0 orders on day 1, now it has over 3 lakh partners

<ul class="summary-list"><li>DoorDash has partnered with two companies to use hourly employees with benefits.</li><li>That's a change for a delivery service that built its business on contractors who are paid per gig.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-doordash-workers-spend-surprisingly-short-time-doing-job-2024-9">DoorDash</a> is experimenting with using employees with benefits — not just independent contractors — to make deliveries.The delivery service is working with at least two local delivery providers, one in Austin, Texas, and another in Fresno, California, through its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://about.doordash.com/en-us/local-commerce-service-partner?_gl=1*ng6v7y*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MjIyNjYzMjcuQ2owS0NRanctNXkxQmhDLUFSSXNBQU1fb0tubGp5QjdiOHNzU05OdDR6dE1Bcl9kZmd3YlJTQkpGUTBORE5RaVM3YVdUVkRoTVRYMHlNZ2FBbDJERUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3MjIyNjYzMjcuQ2owS0NRanctNXkxQmhDLUFSSXNBQU1fb0tubGp5QjdiOHNzU05OdDR6dE1Bcl9kZmd3YlJTQkpGUTBORE5RaVM3YVdUVkRoTVRYMHlNZ2FBbDJERUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*MTg2ODQwNTE2MC4xNzE5OTI1Nzc0&amp;_ga=2.69043863.760568407.1727102173-897592233.1703081308">Local Commerce Service Partner Program</a>. The local providers handle hiring the employees, but the orders that they fill come from DoorDash.Websites for both companies say they are hiring W2 employees. That's a big change from the gig workers that DoorDash and other delivery services have largely built their businesses on.Though small in scale, the partnerships represent a fundamentally different business model from the one that DoorDash has used to become one of the world's largest delivery services.Since its founding in 2013, DoorDash has relied on independent contractors, who are generally paid for each delivery they complete and have more flexibility about when they work than traditional employees. Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and other delivery companies have also relied on gig workers to build their businesses, leading millions of people in the US into the gig economy.But using employees who are paid hourly and work shifts of up to several hours at a time helps make sure DoorDash always has people on hand to make deliveries, a company spokesperson said."We remain committed to preserving and protecting the flexibility of independent work that the vast majority of Dashers prefer," a DoorDash spokesperson said, referring to the company's independent contractors."However, we also know there is a small subset of workers who prefer set schedules and the predictability of W2 work, which is why we're piloting LCSP in select markets to focus on maintaining healthy supply levels and supplement the handling of new and different types of orders," the spokesperson added.LCSPs are local commerce service partners, or businesses that "operate their own delivery business and employ their own fleet of delivery associates who fulfill deliveries offered through the DoorDash platform," according to DoorDash's website.One of the partner companies, Fresno Logistics, says on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.fresnologistics.com/dash/">its website</a> that it offers "high-quality logistics services to restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, and a variety of other businesses (e.g., retail) in the Fresno, CA area through the DoorDash Platform."Fresno Logistics' website touts the benefits for potential hires, including a $16-an-hour wage, tips, reimbursement for miles driven while on the job, healthcare, and paid time off. While not a direct comparison, that's much more than some gig delivery workers take home: A <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-doordash-drivers-earn-below-minimum-wage-tips-study-2024-5">UC Berkeley study</a> this year found that many make less than minimum wage after accounting for expenses such as gas.Austin-based LCSP One, meanwhile, says on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://lcspone.com/">its website</a> that it pays W2 workers $13 an hour plus tips and a per-mile reimbursement of 10 cents. Full-time delivery employees work four 10-hour shifts scheduled Monday through Friday each week, while part-time workers must make at least 20 hours worth of deliveries, according to the website.The home page of its website says that the company offers employees "gig-work mentality with a career mindset."Fresno Logistics and LCSP One did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.Gig workers lack many of the benefits and legal protections that employees get. Some gig workers have said that their pay has decreased over the last few years, especially compared to early 2020, when demand for the delivery of groceries, takeout food, and other goods rose.Others have had their accounts on the delivery apps deactivated with little or no explanation. And some gig workers have pointed to performance metrics, such as the percentage of potential orders that they accept, saying that they make the work more <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-grubhub-uber-workers-gig-work-feels-like-a-job-2024-8">like a traditional job.</a>Making deliveries as an employee could solve some of those problems by giving workers more predictable pay and reimbursing them for miles driven.The amount delivery services pay gig workers has been going up in some cities, too. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-regulatory-response-fee-nyc-minimum-wage-law-delivery-workers-2024-2">New York City</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-doordash-pushing-back-against-seattle-gig-worker-laws-payup-2024-4">Seattle</a> recently enacted laws meant to raise gig worker pay.Do you work for a gig delivery service and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:abitter@businessinsider.com">abitter@businessinsider.com</a>

DoorDash is trying a new way of making deliveries — and it doesn't involve gig workers

The e-commerce market in India is projected to increase significantly to over USD 300 billion by 2030 as the country's <keyword id="20107419" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-economy" source="keywords">digital economy</keyword> is set to reach a whopping USD 1 billion by the same year. According to <keyword id="19918506" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Invest-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Invest India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Invest India">Invest India</keyword>, India's online shopper base will be the 2nd largest globally by 2030, with nearly 500-600 Mn shoppers. Even now, India has the 2nd largest Internet user-base globally with 881 million users. India is moving towards becoming a dominant force in global e-commerce by 2030, driven by a growing digital economy and an expanding internet user base. The data from the investment promotion and facilitation agency Invest India from shows India taking the lead in <keyword id="19957108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-shopping" source="keywords">online shopping</keyword>, the e-commerce sector in India is valued at USD 70 billion at present. This makes up for just around 7 percent of the total retail market in the country. However, several factors are likely to contribute a bright future outlook for the sector. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Growing internet penetration and digital economy" comment="subhead" text="Growing internet penetration and digital economy">Growing <keyword id="20707509" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="internet-penetration" source="keywords">internet penetration</keyword> and digital economy</cmsannotation> Internet penetration across has seen substantial growth, with over 60% of the Indian population (918 million) using the internet by September 2023. Further, an estimated 87 percent of Indian households are projected to have internet access as early as 2025. The time spent accessing the internet via mobile devices has also increased by 21 percent compared to 2019. The affordability of data prices in India is a key factor, with one gigabyte of data priced at around USD 0.17 (Rs 13.5), encouraging a large portion of the population to go online. <keyword id="21457667" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-data-traffic" source="keywords">Mobile data traffic</keyword> has tripled from 2018 to 2023, demonstrating the growing dependence on <keyword id="19979951" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-platforms" source="keywords">digital platforms</keyword> for diverse requirements. It is projected that by 2026, 1.18 billion people across the country will have access to smartphones, over 80% of India's population. The increasing number of smartphone users along with higher average data consumption per user, boosts the digital economy. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become a major player in digital payments, handling transactions worth USD 1.5 trillion in 2022. There has been a significant increase in the availability of local language and mobile-first content, with about 73 percent of India's internet users utilizing Indian languages. As a result, there is an estimated regional language user base of 540 million, creating a market worth USD 53 billion. Digital infrastructure like UPI, eKYC, and Aadhaar has cut down the consumer onboarding time by 80 percent, enhancing the digital experience. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is another notable initiative by the Government of India, launched in 2022. It aims to provide equal opportunities to MSMEs to thrive in digital commerce and democratize e-commerce. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A transition along with growth" comment="subhead" text="A transition along with growth">A transition along with growth</cmsannotation> In FY 2022-23, Government e-marketplace (GeM) registered its highest ever Gross Merchandise Value of $2011 Bn, shows data from Invest India. The projected growth in online shoppers in India is substantial, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 percent to 88 million in rural India and 15 percent to 263 million in urban India from 2019 to 2026. There is a notable transition towards rural-focused value e-commerce, with more than 60 percent of demand anticipated to come from tier 2-4 towns and rural India by 2026. Government programs such as the National Logistics Policy are designed to streamline deliveries to remote areas, improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of logistics. The quick commerce market in India's hyperlocal mobility sector is also projected to grow exponentially to achieve a market size of USD 5.5 billion by 2025. Leading companies like Swiggy and Zomato are at the forefront of the market, while startups like Zepto are also gaining substantial market share. <keyword id="20873923" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-commerce" source="keywords">Social commerce</keyword>, a new trend that uses social networks and digital media to connect buyers and sellers, is also projected to achieve a market size of USD 70 billion by 2030, with small video applications gaining significant popularity. Significant mergers and acquisitions have been observed in the e-commerce sector, with companies such as Zomato and PhonePe making strategic decisions to enhance their positions. Government schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, BharatNet Project, and the implementation of Goods &amp; Service Tax (GST) have been instrumental in shaping India's digital economy. (With inputs from ANI)

India's e-commerce market set to skyrocket as the country's digital economy surges to USD 1 Trillion by 2030

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some DoorDash workers are asking customers for extra tips to deliver their food.</li><li>The workers accept orders, then ask customers for a higher tip before dropping purchases off.</li></ul>Jade's deliveries from a local cafe followed a regular pattern: Order through DoorDash, then watch the meal show up just under an hour later. But on Sunday, there was an odd message from the DoorDash worker picking up her food: Her order was delayed, so could she add an extra tip? When Jade didn't immediately respond, the DoorDash worker followed up with a series of question marks.<div type="image" title="Screenshots of Jade's messages with the DoorDash driver who delivered her restaurant order on Sunday. The driver told her: &quot;Your order delayed could you add a tips&quot; followed up by multiple messages that consisted of question marks." height="1564" width="1564" msid="100167101" hostid="261" sizebytes="80846"></div>After the driver delivered her food, Jade sent him a message. "As someone who has worked delivery myself for 5+ years, I find asking for an extra tip in very poor taste, and I sincerely hope this is not a normal practice for you," she wrote. "The fact that this guy actually asked for an extra tip and then blew up my phone with question marks is just wild," she wrote in a Reddit post recounting the experience. Some DoorDash customers are getting similar requests for additional tips from workers, whom DoorDash calls Dashers, according to posts on social media and conversations that Insider had with a Dasher and two customers. The requests typically come after a Dasher has agreed to pick up an order before delivering the customer's food.Jade, who lives in California, told Insider she will think twice before ordering food through DoorDash or other third-party delivery apps again. "It is the first time something like this has happened, and it makes me much less likely to order in the future," she told Insider. Insider verified Jade's purchase and is not using her real name for privacy reasons.Most customers leave a tip, but "we understand the frustration that can come with either not receiving one or receiving a particularly low one," a DoorDash spokesperson told Insider."We strictly prohibit any form of harassment, and any Dasher who harasses a customer faces immediate deactivation from the DoorDash platform," the company said.Other customers have posted on social media about requests for tips while the food was en route. One Reddit user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/doordash/comments/13bcy59/maybe_i_could_have_tipped_better_but_couldnt_he/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted screenshots</a> over the weekend of a Dasher asking for a bigger tip. "I'm gonna go ahead and cancel this order if not," the Dasher wrote in a message to the customer. "Go ahead hustler," the customer responded, according to the screenshot. The customer told Insider that they eventually received their order. "I had to reach out to Doordash support, and they reassigned the order to a different driver," the customer told Insider.Another customer, also posting to Reddit, said that their Dasher <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/doordash/comments/13c1kek/im_done_with_doordash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked for a higher tip</a> on a $162 order from the Cheesecake Factory. "I agreed to give the Dasher more money because I do not know this person or how they will react if I say no and for the safety of my family," the customer wrote. "I am truly concerned about how much Dashers are paid that they are getting to the point of having to hustle for extra cash." The customer did not respond to Insider's questions about the interaction.Workers say that tips for delivering orders through DoorDash, Instacart, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and other services have declined from the early years of their operation. Customers were also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/food-delivery-drivers-say-customers-dont-tip-enough-make-living-2023-4">more generous with tips early in the pandemic</a> when many wanted to acknowledge front-line workers' efforts. Many workers say that they only take <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-delivery-driver-gets-big-tips-declines-orders-wealthy-areas-2023-4">orders that already have a high tip.</a> Even then, the gig workers say, they risk falling victim to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-customers-are-tip-baiting-workers-during-the-coronavirus-2020-4">"tip baiting"</a> — when customers promise one tip amount but then lower it after their delivery arrives.One DoorDash worker speaking to Insider said some Dashers ask for extra tips because the base pay is so low. The Dasher said they receive base pay as low as $2.75 per order. Total payouts can range from $4 to $10 per order, the Dasher said, including extra pay for working during peak order times as well as customer tips.DoorDash said on average, across the country, Dashers make $25 per hour."I think when Dashers constantly get low-paying orders pop up on their screens, it can be extremely discouraging and demoralizing," the Dasher said. They added that they have never asked customers for additional tips but understand how other workers get frustrated with the system.Jade, the customer in California, also pointed to low pay for Dashers as a likely cause of her driver's request on Sunday."Obviously, I think Dashers asking customers for an extra tip after accepting an order is not OK," she told Insider. "But I also think that DoorDash should compensate Dashers more so that they don't feel the need to do this sort of thing in the first place."Are you a delivery worker for DoorDash or a similar service? Reach out to Alex Bitter at abitter@insider.com or via text/encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501.

Some DoorDash workers are demanding higher tips before delivery — and customers are freaking out

<ul><li>New Year's Eve saw <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> temporarily increasing its <keyword id="7196797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="platform-fee" source="Orion">platform fee</keyword> as high as ₹9 per order in certain markets.</li><li>In August last year, Zomato introduced a ₹2 platform fee to improve its <keyword id="45934" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="margins" source="Orion">margins</keyword> and become <keyword id="6794530" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="profitable" source="Orion">profitable</keyword>.</li><li>Constant increase in delivery/platform fee may enable lower <keyword id="382629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="growth-rates" source="Orion">growth rates</keyword> for order volume</li></ul> Buoyed by record food orders on New Year's Eve, food delivery platform Zomato increased its mandatory platform fee to ₹4 from ₹3 per order across key markets. The new rates were effective from January 1. New Year's Eve saw Zomato temporarily increasing its platform fee as high as ₹9 per order in certain markets. The company's shares opened high (hovering around ₹126 in morning) on Tuesday after international brokerage firm CLSA remained bullish on its stock. In August last year, Zomato introduced a ₹2 platform fee to improve its margins and become profitable. The company later increased the platform fee to ₹3 before raising it again on January 1 to ₹4. The new platform fee is levied on all customers, including Zomato Gold. “This has been one of the ways of improving profitability for Zomato - apart from ad revenue, delivery charges and higher commission from restaurants - as margin levers. Zomato does about 85 - 90 crore orders annually - an increase in each Re 1 convenience fee will lead to a positive impact of ₹85-90 crore on EBITDA - which is around 5% positive impact on EBITDA,” says Karan Taurani, Senior Vice President-Research Analyst at Elara Capital. However, he says that constant increase in delivery/platform fee may enable lower growth rates for order volume and one would need to monitor potential impact of this on order volume growth. Zomato and its quick commerce platform Blinkit saw highest-ever orders and bookings on the New Year's Eve, compared to previous years. "We have delivered almost as many orders on NYE 23 as we did on NYE 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 combined. Excited about the future!" Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal posted on X. Albinder Dhindsa, CEO, Blinkit said they crossed the total number of orders they did on NYE 2022 in the evening only. "We've already hit highest-ever orders in a day, OPM (orders per minute), soft drinks and tonic water sold in a day, chips sold in a day, tips given to riders in a day (thank you India)," Dhindsa informed. Meanwhile, Zomato received notices from the tax authorities in Delhi and Karnataka over alleged short payment of goods and services tax (GST) amounting to ₹4.2 crore. Zomato said it will appeal against the tax demand notices. This came after Zomato received ₹400 crore show-cause notice from the goods and services tax authorities over unpaid dues collected as "delivery charges". With inputs from IANS

Zomato hikes platform fee to ₹4 across key cities after bumper NY Eve

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-instacart-walmart-spark-gig-workers-hate-bundled-batch-orders-2024-1">Delivery gig workers</a> made less money on Instacart, Uber Eats, and other apps in 2023, a new study found.</li><li>Some worked fewer hours, but their earnings fell faster, Gridwise Analytics found.</li></ul>Delivering for Uber Eats and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-make-money-driving-for-doordash-gig-economy-rewards-program-2023-12">DoorDash</a> as a gig worker got less lucrative last year, according to a new study.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-eats-driver-how-to-get-good-tips-stay-safe-2023-5">Uber Eats</a> drivers saw the biggest decline in gross earnings at 15.4%, according to a study from Gridwise Analytics, which gathers data on earnings for about half a million gig workers. Uber Eats workers made $472.72 a month on average last year."In the past year, there has been a marked decrease in the monthly average gross earnings of drivers," a summary of <a target="_blank" href="https://gridwise.io/gig-mobility-report/">Gridwise's findings</a> on wages reads.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shopper-works-18-hour-days-road-trips-cities-orders-2023-8">Instacart shoppers</a> earned 8.3% less, with average monthly earnings of $606.50, while DoorDash workers saw their earnings slip just 0.1% to $703.17, though they worked 3.2% more hours on average.Grubhub workers saw their earnings increase 6% during the year, though they had to work 13.6% more hours. Rideshare drivers for Uber took the biggest pay hit at 17.1%, though they still earned more on average each month than gig workers on other apps ($1,409.71).Only Lyft drivers earned more than 2022 (2.5%) while working fewer hours (12.9%).In a statement to Business Insider, a DoorDash spokesperson called the monthly earnings statistic "a pretty flawed way to look at how Dashers earn" since "their time on the app can vary month to month and even week to week." And Uber Eats spokesperson said the report "relies on a fraction of drivers and couriers across the country and doesn't accurately reflect the facts."Meanwhile, an Instacart spokesperson told BI: "This report is not inclusive of data from the full shopper population, and cannot be fully representative of earnings across the Instacart platform."A Grubhub spokesperson responded to the report, saying: "We support higher pay for our delivery partners and are pleased that they're earning more."The other companies mentioned in the report didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/golden-age-gig-work-instacart-doordash-delivery-jobs-over-2023-12">Gig workers</a> for a variety of delivery services have told BI that making money has gotten harder, especially compared to the early-pandemic demand for delivery in 2020.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driving-rideshare-gig-economy-worker-arizona-virginia-pandemic-2024-1">Competition among gig workers</a> is part of the issue, they say, with more people signing up for the apps.In other cases, companies have cut pay. Last summer, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-cuts-minimum-base-pay-for-drivers-2023-7">Instacart slashed its minimum base pay for shoppers to $4</a> from its previous $7, for example.While many gig workers deliver food or drive people to the airport as a side hustle, those who work for the apps as their main source of income have been particularly hard-hit by the cuts. Some have even started looking for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shoppers-say-they-cant-keep-working-after-pay-cut-2023-8">traditional 9-to-5 jobs.</a>Do you work for Instacart, DoorDash, or another gig work app and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

Gig worker pay on delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash fell up to 15% last year

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Delivering groceries and takeout as a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-delivery-driver-tipping-millennial-doordash-gig-worker-2023-10">gig worker</a> was a lucrative job early in the pandemic.</li><li>But in 2023, the job got more competitive and paid less, workers said in dozens of interviews.</li></ul>In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Juan started delivering groceries through <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shopper-works-18-hour-days-road-trips-cities-orders-2023-8">Instacart</a> and takeout orders via Uber Eats in Southern California. The money was good enough that he didn't need any other job.Three years later, Juan is still a full-time gig delivery worker. But he's running out of options to stay that way.These days, Juan said, he gets fewer offers through the apps. Those that do pop up on his screen are gone in a second or two if he's not quick, a change he attributes to more people in his area getting into delivery work. He's also tried to sign up for other apps, including Amazon Flex, Grubhub, and DoorDash, but hasn't gotten off waitlists for them. "Right now, they're not taking more drivers," he said."2020 and 2021 were excellent, but things started to go downhill in 2022 and now 2023," Juan told Business Insider.Spokespeople for Amazon, DoorDash, and Grubhub confirmed to Business Insider that they put prospective delivery workers on waitlists in certain markets based on demand for deliveries.Over the last several months, I've spoken with roughly three dozen people who work for Instacart, DoorDash, Walmart's Spark, and other delivery services that rely on gig workers.Most of those conversations included a common theme: Working as a delivery driver got a lot harder over the past year. Lots of workers tell me that they got into delivering early in the pandemic when lots of people were willing to pay extra to have groceries, takeout, and other things brought to their door.But now, things are harder. Just finding orders to deliver can be a challenge. Some services, like Instacart, have also cut base pay for delivering orders. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-make-money-gig-worker-uber-lyft-doordash-delivery-driver-2023-12">Less than 10% of gig workers make over $2,000 a month,</a> according to research from PayQuicker, a payments company with clients in the gig-work space.Here are some of the problems that delivery gig workers faced in 2023, varying from lower pay to greater competition to sudden deactivations. Several workers declined to have their names used, citing potential retaliation from the apps. Business Insider has verified their identities and status as gig workers.<h2>More competition, lower pay, and a rigid schedule</h2>Many of the delivery services have pitched themselves for years to workers who don't want a rigid 9-to-5 schedule.A 2015 worker <a target="_blank" href="https://instacart.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/instacart-shoppers-profile-greg/">testimonial</a> from Instacart is a great example. Titled "How Instacart shoppers are achieving big dreams on a flexible schedule," it features "Greg F.," an aspiring actor who made ends meet delivering orders for Instacart. "My availability changes every week in terms of rehearsals and auditions," a quote from Greg in the testimonial reads. "And I can accommodate that."But working for the apps has started to look more like an office job, especially when it comes to working at a specific time, workers told Business Insider.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shoppers-wait-in-parking-lots-to-claim-orders-2023-7">Instacart encourages shoppers to hang out in parking lots</a> near busy areas identified using color-coded heatmaps, Business Insider reported earlier this year. The company says that being near a busy store improves shoppers' chances of stanching orders.That's a contrast with past years when many shoppers could claim an order from home, even if they were miles away from a store. "Now, you're not really free anymore," one shopper in Utah told Business Insider. "You're locked in."Earlier this year, Instacart told Business Insider that a majority of its contractors spend less than 10 hours each week doing work for the app. "Overwhelmingly, shoppers say they choose to earn income through the Instacart platform because of the freedom and independence they get with a flexible schedule," an Instacart spokesperson said.One driver for DoorDash in California said he doesn't mind waiting in parking lots. But he says doing other things on his phone to pass the time, like watching YouTube videos, has made him miss out on decent orders. "It's like being clocked in," he said. "You can't be on your phone."Contractors for Walmart's Spark delivery service also have to show up in store parking lots once an hour in order to claim orders. Once they pull into a spot, they open the Spark app by the appointed time, which varies by store, and then claim an order or batch of orders they want to deliver. A Walmart associate is then supposed to whisk the order out of the store and into their car. In practice, though, stores are so overwhelmed that they face delays <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-spark-drivers-over-hour-waiting-orders-in-parking-lots-2023-9">of an hour or more filling Spark orders</a>, as Business Insider reported in October.Most Spark orders are filled on this hourly drop schedule, one worker in Texas said. "I can literally pull up at, let's say, 12:39, and I am one minute too late," the driver said. "I do not get anything."A Walmart spokesperson told Insider in October that orders make it out to drivers in 10 minutes or less. "We are focused on giving drivers an efficient pick-up experience and maximizing their earning opportunities, so we consider the time it takes to dispense orders when determining earnings for each trip," the spokesperson said.Then, there's competing with all the other gig workers. Instacart's gig workforce has swelled to 600,000, and Walmart estimates that "hundreds of thousands" of people have made deliveries for Spark. Yet demand for the delivery of many items, especially groceries, has tapered off since the early pandemic.That translates to lower earnings for many workers. "People cannot live off of $30, so they have to find something else," the Spark driver in Texas said.<h2>Delivery app workers have realized that pay isn't reliable</h2>For lots of gig workers, delivering groceries, takeout, and other stuff just isn't paying the bills like it used to.Alexia Hudson spent two years delivering orders for Instacart in the area around Charlotte, North Carolina.Then, in July, two months before its IPO, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-cuts-minimum-base-pay-for-drivers-2023-7">Instacart cut its minimum payment</a> per group of orders from $7 to $4. Hudson told Business Insider at the time that the pay cut meant the job didn't make sense for her anymore.Since then, she has started a full-time job and has stopped delivering for Instacart."With these updates, we expect average pay to stay the same for shoppers across the platform," Daniel Danker, chief product officer at Instacart, said at the time of the pay cut. "We know that not all orders are created equal, and we want to make sure shopper earnings reflect the effort needed to fulfill each batch."Others have followed Hudson in throwing in the towel on gig work. Demand for delivery services has fallen since early in the pandemic, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gig-economy-boom-over-labor-market-jobs-bank-of-america-2023-4">report</a> from the Bank of America Institute published in April found. At the same time, wages for most full-time jobs have risen, leading many who relied on gig work for their income to apply for 9-to-5 work, according to the report.An old-fashioned job might also come with more security than working for gig apps. Some independent contractors have learned the hard way that you can be booted from an app for an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shopper-won-280000-in-arbitration-after-deactivation-2023-9">honest mistake at the Walmart self-checkout.</a>Many gig workers told Business Insider in October that once <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-gig-workers-are-fighting-against-sudden-account-deactivations-2023-9">deactivated</a>, they have little, if any, opportunity to appeal the decision and get reinstated. The companies, including Instacart, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber, said that they have appeals processes and that drivers who haven't done anything wrong can be reactivated.New laws in some big cities aim to improve conditions for gig workers. In Seattle, for instance, laws mandating that some gig workers get sick days and a minimum hourly wage of $17.27 will take effect in January. Another city ordinance, which requires gig apps to provide 14 days of notice to workers they intend to deactivate, takes effect in 2025, GeekWire <a target="_blank" href="https://www.geekwire.com/2023/seattle-approves-first-of-its-kind-law-that-protects-app-based-workers-from-deactivation/">reported</a> in August.Last month, a state appeals court judge upheld a New York City law that would require DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber to pay food delivery workers at least $17.96 an hour – the city's minimum wage, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://nypost.com/2023/12/01/business/uber-doordash-and-grubhub-must-pay-ny-workers-18-per-hour/">the New York Post.</a>The companies that employ delivery workers oppose the laws. Target-owned delivery service <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/targets-shipt-to-suspend-delivery-in-seattle-report-2023-12">Shipt has even said that it will suspend operations in Seattle</a> next month, days before that city's new laws take effect.For most workers, like Juan in Southern California, getting out of the gig economy entirely seems like a better option. "Obviously, the slice of the pie is getting smaller and smaller for me," he said. "I'm looking for a proper job right now."Do you work for Instacart, Walmart Spark, or another gig delivery service and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@insider.com

The golden age of working for Instacart, DoorDash, and other delivery apps is over, workers say

New Delhi, Jun 8 () Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Monday said it plans to transition the services offered by its premium on-demand delivery platform Scootsy in Mumbai to the company's platforms in the near future. Swiggy had acquired Scootsy in 2018 for around Rs 50 crore and said at that time that the Mumbai-based firm will continue to operate as an independent app post the acquisition. "To expand our footprint to all discerning customers across Mumbai, we will be transitioning the services offered by Scootsy to Swiggy's platforms in the near future. This will be the first major milestone in setting up the premium category for Swiggy," a Swiggy spokesperson said in a statement. In line with this, all Scootsy customers will be redirected to a curated selection on the Swiggy app where they can experience the same level of service along with the widest choice of cuisines and restaurants supported by Swiggy's delivery, it added. During the past few months, Swiggy has witnessed a surge in demand for curated food choices from premium brands, the statement said. "Through our partnerships with ITC Hotels, Marriott, Hyatt, KA Hospitality and the likes, we intend to further elevate our premium selection and category experience for consumers on Swiggy," it added. At Swiggy, the company is constantly adapting to the rapidly changing needs of consumers and the industry by fine-tuning its services, the statement said. AKT HRS

You Searched For "demand delivery platform scootsy" and got 12 results

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Swiggy co-founder reveals the company had 0 orders on day 1, now it has over 3 lakh partners

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DoorDash is trying a new way of making deliveries — and it doesn't involve gig workers

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India's e-commerce market set to skyrocket as the country's digital economy surges to USD 1 Trillion by 2030

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Some DoorDash workers are demanding higher tips before delivery — and customers are freaking out

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Zomato hikes platform fee to ₹4 across key cities after bumper NY Eve

BI India Bureau

Gig worker pay on delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash fell up to 15% last year

Alex Bitter

The golden age of working for Instacart, DoorDash, and other delivery apps is over, workers say

Alex Bitter

Swiggy to transition Scootsy's operations to its platforms

PTI

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