When it comes to making the most out of your food delivery game, there are options. You could take a random approach, which involves jumping in your vehicle, turning on your favorite delivery app, and seeing what happens. Or, you could pay attention to every “voice of wisdom” within earshot, from other drivers to YouTube experts, each of them insisting there’s only one “best” way … theirs.
We’re also offering wisdom in this post – but we’ll take a different approach. First, our advice comes from real delivery drivers, so you’re hearing it directly from the source; and second, we give you seven ways to up your food delivery game, plus a golden opportunity. We invite you to take what’s offered here, run with it, and create a targeted strategy that works for you. Here’s how we’ll go about it:
- What’s wrong with delivering “freestyle”?
- What a food delivery strategy can do for you
- 7 ways to up your food delivery game
- Put your personalized food delivery strategy in place
What’s wrong with delivering “freestyle”?
There’s no reason you can’t just go out, turn on your app, and start delivering food. Most apps, including Uber Eats and Grubhub, will allow you to do this. In fact, that’s probably the way most of us got our food delivery feet wet. But anyone who’s ever done it, even for a few shifts, knows how tough it can be.
When you’re taking random calls, and especially if you’re a newb at the food delivery game, you won’t get the big orders right away unless you’re really lucky. You’ll see a lot of $4 and $7 orders, and they may or may not include tips depending on the types of customers you meet. Bigger orders come as you make more trips, prove your worth to your company, and show that you’re good at pleasing customers.
Also, you may not know the best times to drive or where the most fruitful spots might be. If you lack a specific goal, and don’t know how to get the most out of what the food delivery companies have to offer in terms of higher earnings and bonuses, you could be driving in circles. Don’t waste your gas and time, and please … get a strategy!
What a food delivery strategy can do for you
First things first: You must realize that the only way any strategy will work for you is if you put it together based on your needs, your goals, your availability, and your local environment. Taking blanket advice from a self-appointed expert might work for those who have similar circumstances – but the reality is, most of us have different needs and situations, and every city is different.
Consider those factors as you begin to craft your personal strategy, along with these specifics:
- How densely populated is the area where you’ll be driving?
- What are the most popular food delivery apps in your area?
- Are there areas where restaurants are clustered together?
- What are the most popular eateries in your area?
- Do you have the right equipment to handle large orders?
- What are the reasons people in your area would order food for delivery?
- What are the best times of day for food delivery in your area?
- Where are the people who are likely to order? In an office area? Near a university?
- What days and times are most convenient for you?
- Do you want to schedule blocks of time, work when you want to and can, or both?
With a food delivery strategy, you’ll have the potential to make the most money in the least amount of time possible. Know your area, do a small bit of research, and you’ll be in business.
7 ways to up your food delivery game
By now, you’re probably convinced that putting a strategy together for your food delivery gig is a good idea. As promised, here are seven components to a good strategy that you can use to create one that works for you:
#1 Set goals and be selective: $7 or more lets you score.
How much do you want to make per hour? How much per day? Most experienced drivers like to aim at making at least $20 per hour. In order to achieve that goal, they know they have to make the absolute best use of their time.
It’s hard to refuse an order, particularly when you’re new to delivery driving or haven’t had many pings so far on your shift. Still, your performance probably isn’t going to get any better if you spend an hour and a half chasing down and waiting for a fast-food order worth $4 or $5. Think about that before you hit the “accept” button and head over to that chicken or burger joint.
When those pings come in, you often have to think fast. Should you take it or not? This part of the game is a delicate balance between making sure your cancellation rate doesn’t get ridiculous, and making your delivery gig worth the time you’re spending on it.
If you have trouble wrapping your mind around whether an order is worth it on the fly, slow down. It takes time and experience to get the hang of any delivery app. If you need to pull over for a few seconds to fully understand what the delivery involves and whether you want to take it, then pull over. Whether it’s a $4 hamburger and shake order or a $200 catering job, neither is worth getting into an accident.
Always keep an eye on your acceptance and cancellation rates to make sure you’re not refusing enough calls to affect your ratings. But again, stick to bigger orders whenever possible.
#2 Choose your app(s) wisely.
What is the best app for you, your lifestyle, and most importantly, your area? This website shares stats telling you which of the big food delivery apps has the biggest market share in various major cities. Check it out to see which is most popular around you.
Next, decide what your highest priorities are. Do you want to work for the “biggest” company, or one that won’t demand you compete with a bunch of other drivers? You can rely on your instincts, of course, but there’s a more scientific way. Sign up for all the apps in your area and try them out individually before deciding which one you want to stick with for most of your driving.
It is best to select one app as your primary source of work. Why? Because it gives you an advantage when it comes to bonuses and perks that are based on the number of rides you have with a given company. This Gridwise blog post contains useful inside information on what it takes to get good delivery driver ratings, and perks, from the major companies.
The other difference you’ll find among the apps pertains to scheduling your driving. DoorDash and Grubhub allow you to schedule blocks of time when you’re available to drive. With DoorDash, until you reach Top Dasher status, you’ll have to schedule your work hours and stick to them. Grubhub will allow you to drive anytime you wish, as will Uber Eats.
You might also have a preference for a certain company because of the way their drivers are treated. By all means, choose the one that you enjoy working for. You’ll make more money if you have a good feeling about your gig, and how your company sees its relationship with its drivers is a big part of that.
There are many factors to consider about any company you decide to drive for. Check this Gridwise post to compare DoorDash and Grubhub, and this Gridwise post to see how Uber Eats and DoorDash size up.
#3 Know when to drive.
Before you start, there’s one big question you need to answer and be very honest about it. When are you really available? Can you get out of your other part-time gig to drive at lunch hour? Can you really afford to leave your kids with a relative or sitter while you drive the evening or late-night peak times? Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll have a better idea of your options. From there, you can begin to look at more general considerations.
While it may seem that you’ll get the most calls at meal times, there’s more to think about than sheer volume. If you’re in a big city, for instance, how much longer will it take you to make a delivery at 5:30 p.m. than it would at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m.? Rush hour traffic could hold you up, and that means your hourly earnings could drop substantially.
Also, you need to know the prime delivery times in your area. Some more suburban areas might want their food at 6:00 or 7:00 p.m., while urban diners-in might not be ready to nosh until 9:00 or later. As for the late-night nibblers, they may start calling in at 10:00 p.m., or not peak until midnight.
There’s a lot that goes into your decision about the best times to drive, wouldn’t you say? Trial and error might work, but wouldn’t it be better to have current, real information about the best times to drive in your area? How would you get this info?
Use Gridwise! Our hot new feature, aptly named When to Drive, uses information from real drivers and tells you the best times to make money in your area. You can even see which days of the week are best in different locations. Here’s what it looks like:
You can get all the stats you need with this great new Gridwise feature.
#4 Know where to drive.
Any good food delivery strategy involves knowing where all the best places are to wait for orders, and which neighborhoods have the best restaurants for delivery. For example, hanging around the posh side of town could be fun, but you’ll get far more calls for deliveries in spots known for their middle-of-the-road, something for everyone kinds of establishments.
Staying safe as a delivery driver is also an issue when it comes to knowing the “best” places. This Gridwise article is directed at female drivers, but the safety tips it contains are relevant to everyone. As a delivery driver, you often have to walk the streets, and at times, enter buildings that might not be the most savory of places. Learn your area, and know when a delivery involves going to someplace you’d rather not be.
Hanging out around a concentrated area is a good move if you want to get stacked orders, which refers to picking up two, maybe three meals from the same or a nearby eatery. You can make more money in less time and within a shorter distance with stacked orders – but it’s best to wait until you have more experience before setting your app to accept them.
There’s another way to find the most lucrative places for delivery work. Gridwise is almost ready to release another awesome feature for drivers called Where to Drive. It allows you to look at earnings data anonymously collected from Gridwise drivers, and will show you where the money is in your town. The screen you’ll use will look like this:
You can get more detailed information by continuing to this screen:
Switch from Rideshare to Delivery to see what each kind of driving looks like, and filter the data just about any way you might wish.
In addition to this information, you need an idea about what’s going on around town or in your general area. Are there ballgames or big concerts about to go on? Is there a rush near the airport? Are there restaurants near the mall that people love to order from? How’s traffic? Should you bring your rain gear? So many questions, right?
Gridwise offers an edge here as well. Here’s a sample of the features you get right on the home screen:
- Airport information: arrivals, departures, and queue lengths at your location;
- Weather: current information and weather alerts;
- Traffic: traffic alerts;
- Gas deals: save up to $0.25 per gallon with Gridwise Gas.
- Event information: everything you need to know about local events.
There are alerts and notifications, plus a reminder to log on at the beginning of your shift so you can track your mileage and earnings with Gridwise. You’ll get easy-to-read and fact-filled graphs like these, telling you how you’ve done on all the apps you use:
Now that you have tips on where to drive, let’s move on to some more advanced elements of your successful delivery driving strategy.
#5 Work for tips.
Raise the bar, and your income, by putting in the extra effort it takes to get great tips. You can get away with making far fewer deliveries, and still meet your earnings goals, with the extra money people often give you just for adding in some extra attention and kindness. Here are some examples of ways to increase your tips:
- Stay in touch with your customers. Keep them up to date about delays, both in the restaurants and on the road.
- Bring extra condiments. Don’t assume that people couldn’t possibly need napkins or extra ketchup; even if they don’t, they’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness when you bring them along. You might even keep your own, separate (and individually wrapped) supply in your vehicle.
- Separate hot and cold items, and invest in equipment to help make that easier. Here’s a Gridwise post that shows you some of the gear you could use to provide extra care to those food orders.
- Sniff out the tippers. Focus your efforts on areas where people can well afford to give you a nice tip. They’ll be far more likely to click on the in-app tip option, or add to it after they notice your superb service.
- Highlight your efforts. Subtly mention that you added extra condiments and utensils, or how easy it was to keep their fries warm and crispy in the fancy insulated bag you just bought.
- Make them smile. Be friendly with your customers, telling them how much you enjoyed bringing their meal, what a great place they chose, or how much care the eatery took with their order.
Tipping can add another 15–20 percent to your earnings! Always act like you love what you’re doing, even when you’re tired or burned out, and make your customers feel important, because they are. Without them, you’d be missing out on your great delivery driving gig.
#6 Watch for promotions and referral bonuses.
The delivery apps all have promotions going on at different times, and this is an easy way to add to your earnings. Watch for the peak times, and if traffic conditions and weather permit, focus on the areas that are part of the promotion.
Other bonuses might come from completing a certain number of trips in a given amount of time, or by deciding to drive on a peak day or holiday when most drivers would rather be doing something besides working.
You can also get extra cash with very little effort by referring friends to drive for your company. Most of the time, you’ll get a reasonable amount of cash, or at least a guaranteed earnings incentive. Check your favorite company to see what they offer in your area.
#7 Alternate your apps.
All the companies have policies against their drivers working for two apps on the same trip, so keep that in mind. Still, there are ways to take advantage of working two or more apps in a given shift. This is an advanced move to be sure, but some tactics to consider include:
Compare orders. If a second app offers a better order than the one you’ve chosen, as long as you haven’t yet picked up the order you can cancel it and move to the order that will make you more money.
Compare bonuses. Check out the different apps to see where the bonus areas might be, and how much they’re offering. The same goes for referrals. Before you refer a friend, check to see which of the apps you use are offering you more of a reward.
Mix in rideshare. If you have the right kind of vehicle for rideshare, consider alternating your food deliveries with driving passengers. You can learn more about the rideshare apps in this Gridwise blog post. It’s a great way to make good use of your time in between peak meal time periods, plus … it can be fun and make you lots of money, too.
Put your personalized food delivery strategy in place
Now that you have seven ways to up your food delivery game, it’s time to put your strategy together. We trust your creativity and know that you’ll come up with a great one. But, if you ever want to check in with a super community of drivers, make sure to check out Gridwise on Facebook for lively discussions, gas card giveaways, and more!
