The online Doordash community seems to have quite the love-hate relationship with the app and the people working for it. While some encounters are quite positive and heartwarming, others portray quite unpleasant behavior from both delivery people and customers alike. The pics share some of the best and worst attributes of humanity.
#4 Was Handed This As A Tip (Even After A Tip Through App) By A Really Nice Lady, Super Cool!
For both customers and workers, some of the problems may be due to growing pains. Food delivery apps around the world have experienced extraordinary growth in recent years, and society may be experiencing growing pains as we all wrap our heads around an economy in which nearly anyone can decide to become a food delivery worker and almost anyone can order food from a restaurant right to their doorstep.
#9 Hate When “Leave At Door” Customers Rush Out To Meet You On The Doorstep
An article by consulting firm McKinsey & Company puts the meteoric rise of food delivery businesses into context: “A little under two decades ago, restaurant-quality meal delivery was still largely limited to foods such as pizza and Chinese. Nowadays, food delivery has become a global market worth more than $150 billion, having more than tripled since 2017.”
The switch to new interfaces between restaurant customers and their food was bound to happen as tech innovators worked to expand the role of apps in our lives, but global lockdown efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic had an especially significant role to play in the proliferation of these apps. As McKinsey & Company writes, “Lockdowns and physical-distancing requirements early on in the pandemic gave the category an enormous boost, with delivery becoming a lifeline for the hurting restaurant industry. Moving forward, it is poised to remain a permanent fixture in the dining landscape.”
Despite their proliferation, however, it is clear that working in the industry isn’t a cakewalk. Industry representatives claim that margins are quite thin and that the business has high costs. Depending on the region and on the app (there’s much more out there than just DoorDash), restaurants may be taking a hit by working with these apps as well.
The average food delivery platform customer may not realize that the apps charge on both ends of their order. In addition to the service fee you pay as a consumer, the restaurant will pay (usually between 15-30% of the order price) for the pleasure of reaching a broader consumer base thanks to the app. Depending on the restaurant and the market, this may significantly reduce or even eliminate their profit margins.
