Does Lyft deliver food? Well … it does now. That’s right – Lyft is moving into food delivery. But don’t get too excited yet. Always approaching business from a unique angle, Lyft isn’t out to become a clone, or even a rival, of Uber Eats.
Lyft will play the food delivery game its own way
Instead of creating its own consumer-facing food delivery service, Lyft will join forces with Olo, a restaurant interface company. Olo’s product, Dispatch, does exactly what that word implies. Customers place orders on a restaurant’s website, then Dispatch sends out the delivery request to the closest courier. The food delivery driver makes the pickup and takes the delivery to its destination, but with a twist.
Unlike Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, and the other big food delivery outfits, this kind of service skips those hefty service fees the big guys stick to restaurants and other eating establishments. Instead, the customer pays the delivery fee and will also hopefully dole out tips for drivers.
This is where the cleverness of Lyft’s move becomes more visible. Rather than compete with Uber Eats, DoorDash, or any of the others, Lyft will contribute to an effort to undercut their business and provide more economical delivery solutions to restaurants. Here’s how.
The big food delivery companies charge bigtime for restaurants to use their services, hitting them with fees that are “capped” at 30 percent. There are large margins on prepared food, to be sure, but that’s a cut most restaurants can’t really afford.
So, when Lyft joins the cadre of couriers who will be working with Olo’s Dispatch, the company will be providing last-mile delivery without charging the restaurants a fee. Consumers are unlikely to notice the difference because eateries usually pass on at least part of the fee to the people who place the orders and get them delivered to their doors.
Some other carriers already working with Olo’s dispatch include DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Restaurants are more likely to favor Lyft, however, as well as their own delivery drivers if they have them.
What does this mean for drivers?
Lyft sees this move as part of the expansion of its business-to-business delivery service. The company is already operating with Olo’s Dispatch in 25 U.S. markets and hopes to extend to several hundred before long.
Lyft will have access to a huge network by partnering with Olo, which covers more than 500 restaurant brands in over 76,000 locations. Even though not all of them use Dispatch, this agreement between the two companies will allow Lyft to harvest a whole lot of business.
How can you become a Lyft food delivery driver? Check your Lyft driver app to see if you have access to Lyft delivery. If you do, you can adjust your settings to accept Lyft food deliveries and off you go! While it can be challenging to deal with parking, weather, and long waits at restaurants, delivery could add variety to your gig driving life and also make you more money.
If you decide to take on the challenge of Lyft deliveries, make sure you sync your Lyft app to Gridwise. You can track your earnings and find out if it’s really worth it for you.
Gridwise also gives you airport and event information, traffic and weather alerts, and great deals and discounts for drivers. Use our Where to Drive and When to Drive features to maximize your driving profitability and efficiency, and make the most of “the best rideshare and delivery app”!
