Chinanews client, Beijing, September 9th (Reporter Li Jinlei) The article "Takeaway Riders, Stuck in the System" was screened, and "How the food delivery industry became a high-risk occupation" was also on the hot search.
The food delivery platform Ele.me quickly responded and asked the user a multiple-choice question: Would you like to give me 5 more minutes?
Unexpectedly, it triggered a new round of controversy.
It can be described as a wave of unrest.
The picture shows the takeaway boy riding in the rainstorm.
Photo by Luo Yunfei
Although the article "Takeaway Riders, Stuck in the System" is long, the facts described are simple: As the prescribed delivery time is getting shorter and shorter, it is getting harder and harder for the riders. The number of traffic accidents has risen sharply.
Because in the system settings, delivery time is the most important indicator, and overtime is not allowed. Once it happens, it means bad reviews, reduced revenue, or even eliminated.
In Baidu Tieba, where takeaway riders gather, one rider wrote, “Delivering food is a race against death, a competition with traffic police, and a friend with a red light.”
According to relevant data, in 2019, the average delivery time of takeaway orders across the industry in China has been reduced by 10 minutes compared with 3 years ago.
Ordering takeout has become one of the lifestyles of ordinary people. The takeout boy is familiar to everyone. The article hits the pain point in the takeaway industry and aroused the sympathy of the people for takeout, so he quickly screened the circle of friends.
Facing the public's accusations from the foreign selling platform, Ele.me issued a post on September 9 stating that a new feature will be released as soon as possible: a small button "I'm willing to wait 5 minutes/10 minutes" will be added when the payment is settled.
If you are not in a hurry, you can click to give the Blue Knight a little more time.
Are you hungry will also give some feedback for your empathy, which may be a small red envelope or foodie beans.
Ele.me also said that it will provide an incentive mechanism to outstanding blue knights with good historical credit and good service. Even if individual orders are overtime, he/she will not be held responsible.
Ele.me statement screenshot.
Unexpectedly, the rapid launch of the improvement measures with crisis public relations implied by the distribution platform has attracted new controversy.
Some people say "very good, so you don't have to remark every time you don't need to be in a hurry", but they are more doubtful, thinking that this is a moral kidnapping and throwing the pot away to consumers.
Many people think this seems to be wrong: obviously the rules set by the takeaway platform force the takeaway to take risks. If you don’t violate the rules, you can’t complete the meal delivery task according to the set time, but now it is "humane" to "wait a lot" The "5 minutes" function hints to customers that "Takeaways are so hard work. You have to be more tolerant. Why don't you wait another 5 minutes if you don't choose one?"
Netizens commented screenshots.
"Are you willing to earn 5 yuan less?" Someone said bluntly, "This feature will only be used by my brother to take a few more orders." "I will give him 5 more minutes, and he will not use it to drive slower or slower. Obeying the traffic rules will only be used to take one more order and treat the symptoms rather than the root cause"...
Netizens commented screenshots.
Some netizens questioned that the problem does not lie with consumers. It is true that consumers want good services. Take the delivery time of ordering food as an example. The time promised by the platform is the reference condition for customers to choose whether to consume. You can’t do it. Don't promise, don't promise blindly and ask for tolerance from customers.
In addition to voting with their feet, front-line service personnel have no right to choose the company's rules and the time required by the platform. Therefore, the platform is not as good as it is to make reasonable rules.
Objectively speaking, the takeaway guy is speeding, running red lights, and going retrograde. This is actually a big problem, because even if the delivery time requires one night to return to the pre-liberation period, this phenomenon is difficult to prevent, because the takeaway guy himself has many orders. The appeal of making money.
However, if there are more and more "reverse algorithms" behaviors such as speeding, red light running, and retrograde take-away brothers, we must reflect on the problem.
Why is an article reflecting that it is not easy for a takeaway boy to be so popular? It also reflects the increasingly narrow living space of the takeaway boy under the ever-shorter delivery time requirements of the platform.
There is nothing wrong for consumers to pursue better services. It is also the law of the market for capital to focus on efficiency, cost and profit. It is only natural for the takeaway brother to want to make money and live a better life.
To change the current problem, the platform should assume greater responsibility. It should not expect consumer concessions and tolerance, but should change the rules, optimize the system, strengthen protection, and truly respect and care for workers, rather than let consumers To care for your employees for you.
Netizens suggested that instead of making consumers wait more, it is better to rectify and optimize the system on the platform, set the delivery time not to be so limited, and dispatch orders more reasonable.
Data show that the scale of China's food delivery market exceeds 650 billion yuan, covering 460 million consumers.
The takeaway platform should strike a balance and common divisor among the delivery efficiency, consumer experience, and the safety of the takeaway brother. It should not be left in the wrong place. The whole industry should not blindly pursue efficiency and ignore the safety of practitioners, otherwise it will endanger the long-term development of.
In fact, in this fast-moving and developing society, it is not only the takeaway brother who is trapped in the system, it is not only the takeaway that is a high-risk group.
In order to make the industry less dangerous, it needs to be slowed down appropriately, and it needs the perfection of rules and legal protection.
The brakes are actually more important than the throttle.
What do you think?