DoorDash is currently the leader in on demand delivery, not just focusing on food anymore. More than double market share compared to their closest competitor, Uber Eats. That does not mean customers are receiving quality service for the fees charged for those services.
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All platforms could benefit from at least a couple of these improvements.
Delivery Fee Charges Do Not Go to Drivers
It is a point of contention with customers that see a specific delivery fee and the drivers that do not get that fee. DoorDash in most markets pays $2, less in some markets, per delivery. Any additional money paid by the customer is where drivers make their money. Many customers feel they should not have to pay extra, they are already paying nearly $5 for a delivery fee.
DoorDash is not transparent with customers on who receives that delivery fee and that is simply wrong. No other way to look at it. It is dishonest.
Anything marked delivery fee should go to the driver. If not, then change the name to something that clearly shows the driver is not receiving that money.
All platforms have a delivery fee in their itemization of charges but only pizza restaurants clearly state the driver does not receive that money.
Changes to How Tips Are Handled
Tips are where drivers make their money in delivery with DoorDash, Uber Eats, Walmart Spark, Insta Cart, etc. The problem many customers have voiced on videos and other content about delivery is, tips are earned not expected, or similar. Other customers join in on these conversations talking about how their food was delivered cold (these customers almost never mention if they tip till others bring it up).
The wording of tip is wrong. It needs to be clarified using another word. Change it to bid or bid for service or similar. Maybe change it to “Driver Service Offer – Higher offers are often delivered faster”.
Anything to let the customer know, this money goes directly to the driver and if you want your food now hot, then you are competing with other orders in your area. The higher you offer for service, the better chance your order comes before someone else’s.
In 2022, DoorDash processed nearly 2 billion orders on their platform to almost 400,000 restaurants. That is a lot of competition to get your food and DoorDash needs to be clearer on how your money is being divided between the company and drivers.
Offer Customers Option to Get Exclusive Delivery
Right now, all platforms that focus on restaurant delivery offer the driver the chance to collect more than one delivery at a time. This often does not benefit the customer that tips as no tip orders are often paired with a good tipping order. This gets the no tip order a free ride, extending the delivery time of the good tipping order, and generally upsetting them.
While this is not all that fair an option for those that do tip, that are likely to get their food anyhow, it is an option for speedier delivery.
In my market, I see good tips from Zaxby’s and will take them, the problem is, Zaxby’s is not known for speed. This leaves me waiting up to 15 minutes for the food. During that time, I will often get an add-on order for Taco Bell, no tip, base pay only, but it is on the route to the good tipping customer. DoorDash even tells us it will only add a few minutes to the delivery of the first order.
No tip orders are often late based on when the customer ordered because no one will accept it. DoorDash will raise the base pay till someone takes it. When I see these, the base pay is often $4 to $6 on top of the good order I already took.
Considering I am using my car, spending my money on maintenance, etc, and I can add another $6 or $7 onto an order already paying $15+ and drive a mile or two out of my way, I am taking that add-on.
The problem here is Taco Bell does not begin making the order till the driver is standing there. They have had too many orders canceled because DoorDash cannot get someone to deliver it, or drivers take it then cancel while waiting and another, better paying, delivery comes along.
This ends up adding 15 minutes or so to the delivery of the original customer’s order. That food is sitting in a hot bag in my car.
Now you may be thinking that is my fault for taking the second order and unfair to the first customer. I am an independent contractor; I am going to maximize my earnings whenever possible. I am not running a charity service.
Where the change needs to happen is with the service. Either eliminate stack orders, and no tip orders simply will not get delivered.
Another option I see coming would be the platforms, in this case DoorDash, offering customers a small fee to have their food delivered exclusively. Mening the driver would be notified this order is not eligible for stacking with another order. I would love to see DoorDash share some of the exclusive fee with the driver because we depend on stacks quite often to make this job worth doing in the first place.
Better Divide Fees on the Platforms
According to the DoorDash website, they charge restaurants a commission on sales. They charge customers various fees even the 15 million (in 2022) DashPass subscribers (currently $10 per month).
I cannot blame a company for making money, they must impress investors after all. My concern is how that money is divided up.
Again, DoorDash only pays drivers $2 base pay. They don’t care if the customer is 10+ miles from the restaurant, it starts at $2 guaranteed. No one in their right mind will deliver for that pay, no amount of “I tip after delivery” promises will change my mind. No one can pay their bills on promises.
I am not mad at customers here, I understand, I have used the app before and drive for it. I understand how ridiculous the fees are and a tip is expected on top of that.
The problem here is how DoorDash distributes the money collected from those fees.
Any fees charged to the customer, particularly anything marked delivery and at least some of the service fee should be distributed to the driver. This could instantly raise base pay for drivers several dollars per delivery WITHOUT any extra from the customer.
In my market, 80% of the deliveries are less than 5 miles with an overwhelming number of them being base pay only. I am not driving anywhere for $2. I simply will not start my car, turn it into a parking lot, whatever, for $2. I am not alone in that stance.
If DoorDash were to give more of the fees they collect from the customer to the driver then “no tip, no trip” would basically be a catchphrase YouTubers cry about hoping for more views instead of a viable stance by drivers.
DoorDash Needs to Loosen Up on Control of Drivers
DoorDash is the only platform that I know of that controls when drivers can work. This can cause delays to the customers getting their food and restaurants seeing cancellations because there are no drivers available.
If you drive for DoorDash, you must keep an acceptance rate of 70 percent or higher to drive whenever you want. This forces drivers to take orders that they would otherwise not take due to pay versus distance or restaurant.
This is great for the customers that do not tip but it can lead to higher fees later. DoorDash must invest in programs and options to entice drivers to maintain that acceptance rate, costs that will simply be passed onto the customer.
In the last few months, I have delivered less than 100 orders with DoorDash, about 200 with Uber Eats, and a few hundred with Walmart delivery. DoorDash requiring me to schedule my drive time or wait and hope for a busy period of half an hour here and there, has caused me to simply drive elsewhere, ignoring their alerts that it is busy. Ignoring their “peak pay” offers they send out to entice drivers to drive because they have far more orders than drivers.
This leads to extended wait times if the customer gets their order at all.
If DoorDash eliminated the control over working, then more drivers would potentially be available throughout the day. Unfortunately, the only time it is “busy”, at least in my area, is when I am delivering for Walmart or Uber Eats – like DoorDash’s computers see I am potentially on a delivery for another company and magically will allow me to work. I have tested this, accepting the opportunity only to be greeted with a half hour block, fine. Continue to dash and receive no offers for that entire, admittedly, short period.
It is like DoorDash only wants drivers waiting for orders when those drivers might be driving for the competition. An easy way to fix this situation is outlined in this article, if only DoorDash will implement any of these changes.
At the end of the day, happy customers use services more. Why platforms like DoorDash are going out of their way to make the experience for the customer worse is beyond me.