Food delivery rider pay structure

Here’s an overview of the pay structures for different food delivery providers. The information here is likely not exhaustive – I’ve only included information I can find. This page was last updated on 2022-01-23.

I primarily use Deliveroo for my food deliveries. My preference was largely based on an article (now several years old) detailing the pay structures for riders on different delivery platforms. My takeaway from that article is that Deliveroo treats their riders the best, and thus I decided to support them. I can’t recall what the article was, or what exactly led me to this decision, so I’ve decided to perform my own research and summarize the rider pay structures of different delivery providers here.

Based on the information gathered, I intend to continue supporting Deliveroo. Their pay structure is simple and upfront, with no bullshit. Grab has many more hoops for riders to jump through. I don’t doubt that the more dedicated riders who fully exploit the incentive structure could earn more on Grab. However I think Deliveroo’s simpler pay structure is ultimately more rider-friendly.

Deliveroo

https://riders.deliveroo.com.sg/en/guide-to-fees

• Distance to buyer, merchant, and earnable fee is shown before accepting an order.
• Fee is based on:
  • Rider distance to merchant
  • Merchant distance to buyer
  • Estimated waiting time
  • Traffic conditions
  • Diversions
  • Hills
  • Transport type (bicycle, scooter, or walking)
• Scooter riders get additional fees for fuel.

GrabFood

https://www.grab.com/sg/gfdp-incentives101/

GrabFood doesn’t provide much information on how their fees are determined. Likely there are many other signals that contribute to the final fee.

• Distance to buyer, merchant, and earnable fee is shown before accepting an order.
• Fee is based on:
  • Distance
  • Transport type (bicycle, scooter, or walking)
• Grab may automatically add grouped orders to a rider’s delivery. The rider isn’t prompted to accept a grouped order.
• Additional incentives provided by two systems, Zone Boost Gems and Quest Gems.
• Zone Boost Gems:
  • Every week, different zones are assigned gem values.
  • Orders completed within a zone earns gems, which can be redeemed for cash.
  • A minimum number of gems per day is required to cash out the day’s gems.
• Quest Gems:
  • There isn’t much information available on what a “mission” consists of.
  • Completing missions gives gems, which can be redeemed for cash.

// TODO: look more into the shift system and the different tiers. Scanning through the pages, it looks like shifts are a way to formalize a rider’s commitment to delivery. Shifts come with more restrictions and requirements. Shifts have different tiers, with corresponding rewards.