The takeaway rider transforms into a "universal" brother

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  With the continuous upgrade of the food delivery platform and the addition of a variety of "fancy services", the food delivery riders have become more and more "universal".

Some riders are welcoming the change and seize the opportunity to increase their income, while some riders are discouraged by the new requirements and new troubles that arise.

  Recently, major takeaway platforms have launched errands to purchase services. Fruits, medicines, flowers and even clothes can be delivered to the door with just a finger. Some takeaway platforms have even launched services such as "apology on behalf of" and "queuing on behalf of".

Meituan Takeaway data shows that during the National Day holiday from October 1st to 3rd, the average daily order volume for errands increased by 151% year-on-year, among which, errands for queuing orders increased by 419% year-on-year.

  While the food delivery platform continues to expand new business, it also brings changes to the food delivery riders.

The reporter visited and found that the takeaway boy transformed into an errand boy, and while the order volume increased, he encountered a lot of troubles.

From delivery to delivery service

  On July 17, the takeaway platform Ele.me announced a comprehensive upgrade, adding group buying, life beauty and other services, and slogan "No more food, including all city life services".

Ele.me CEO Wang Lei previously stated that after this upgrade, the platform has continued to focus on consumers' "economy around them" from delivering food to delivering everything and services.

  The reporter saw on the errand purchasing page of a food delivery platform that "buy for me", "pick-up" and "net celebrity shop" are its main business types.

Take “helping to pick up meals” as an example. After the customer fills in the purchasing information and personal address and pays for errands, he can place an order. After receiving the order, the rider purchases the items according to the customer's requirements, and finally delivers them to the door.

  Liu Yang, who is engaged in food delivery and delivery in Beijing, told reporters that if consumers want to buy a meal from a certain restaurant but exceed the delivery scope of the food delivery, they can choose to run errands to purchase orders.

"Similar needs are not rare. Some merchants who have not settled on the takeaway platform can also place orders on errands. The whole city can be delivered without distance restrictions." Liu Yang said.

  In addition to purchasing food, daily necessities are all within the scope of purchasing.

“I helped customers buy cakes, flowers, medicines, bandages, etc., and once I bought a pair of long trousers.” said Master Ning, who is engaged in the construction industry in Beijing and works part-time in take-out delivery in his spare time, purchasing clothes. Items should be communicated clearly with customers by phone in advance, including brand, size, color, etc.

  In addition, the reporter found that a food delivery platform also provides the service of "all-purpose boy", and non-physical transaction types such as "love letters", "apologize for girlfriend", "help in line" and other types of non-physical transactions can also be met.

"These services are in demand but relatively few. I heard other colleagues talk about it. I haven't received such an order so far. On Valentine's Day, I can often receive orders for sending flowers and gifts on behalf of others." Master Ning said. .

The number of orders has increased, and the revenue has also increased

  The reporter saw on an errands purchasing page that the nearest distance purchasing errands costs 12 yuan, which is about 6 times the cost of ordinary take-out delivery. The delivery costs increase according to the change of distance, from the center of Beijing to the outer suburbs of Beijing. The cost of errands is as high as 200 yuan.

Master Ning told reporters that the starting fee for his platform is 9 yuan within 3 kilometers. The farther the distance, the higher the price, and the calculation should be based on the estimated delivery time of the platform. The longer the time, the cost will increase accordingly.

  "As soon as I have free time, I will come out to take delivery orders. During peak hours, the order volume is large, and the part-time delivery time is relatively free. It depends on my actual situation." Master Ning said that he can earn part-time jobs every month. About 3,000 yuan, I am also very satisfied with this income.

Master Ning will accept both errands and ordinary take-out orders. He said, "If the distance and time are right, I will give priority to errands to buy orders. After all, the delivery cost is high."

  Shang Yun, from Shanxi, came to Beijing in February this year, specializing in vegetable purchasing and distribution.

“I worked part-time jobs in my hometown before, and my income was average. After I came to Beijing for more than half a year, I became more and more familiar with my work. My monthly income was more than 10,000 yuan.” Shang Yun said, vegetable purchasing and distribution only need to wait for the order at the purchasing point However, there is no need to look for locations around the streets like takeaways, and wait for the meal to be delivered before delivery.

The platform he registered is tiered pricing, the more orders delivered, the higher the delivery cost.

"When I first came, the cost of running errands was 6 yuan, and after a while, it could rise to 8 yuan." Shang Yun said with a smile.

Long time and high cost cause trouble

  The high delivery cost of running errands is the primary factor for many takeaways who choose errand orders. The delivery cost of a single running errands is several times or even ten times that of ordinary takeaway orders.

However, Daigou delivery is no longer a simple point-to-point mechanical service, and the need for a stronger sense of service and better coordination ability of the takeout brother also means an increase in the cost of communicating with buyers.

During the interview, the reporter found that many takeaway brothers said that they would rather accept more ordinary orders than errands.

  Yang Hao has been delivering food in Beijing for more than 3 years. He has experienced ordinary take-out orders and errands purchasing orders, he said: “I don’t accept errands purchasing orders now, it’s too much trouble.” Yang Hao told reporters, although errands orders are expensive. , But the delivery time is relatively long, and many ordering orders are mostly not fast food, sometimes even waiting to be made, which is a waste of time.

Yang Hao showed reporters his mobile phone page for purchasing orders for errands. One of them showed that the delivery cost was 23 yuan and the distance was only 3 kilometers, but the delivery time was 105 minutes.

"The display time of this single system is long, it is likely to need to line up, too long time, take a few more ordinary orders, the money will be made back." Yang Hao said.

  In addition, the purchase of errands requires the rider to pay for the purchase of goods first, and the customer will return the cost to the rider when the goods are delivered.

Yang Hao remembers once buying cigarettes for a customer. The customer insisted that the price he bought was more expensive than the one he had bought before, and it took a long time to make sense.

Moreover, the items purchased each time are various, and the personalities of the customers encountered are also various. Therefore, in Yang Hao's opinion, "traveling to purchase is a lot of trouble."

  An errand customer service representative of a platform told reporters that if the actual purchase price of the rider is not consistent with the price determined by the buyer, the rider needs to present a shopping receipt or payment voucher for verification.

"Sometimes the delivery time is tight and it is too late to issue a small ticket. Even if there is a small ticket and payment voucher but the customer does not accept the account, we can only suffer a dumb loss." Yang Hao said.

  Another person who encountered similar troubles was the takeaway Master Du. When helping customers buy cakes, due to the long distance and bumps, the cakes were a little incomplete when they were delivered. Although they did not affect the consumption, the customers insisted on rejecting them.

"The cake worth 300 yuan can only be eaten by yourself. Not only is this one for nothing, but you have to run a few more orders to make a profit. Running errands is not a good job." Master Du was somewhat helpless.

  (At the request of the interviewee, the names in the text are all aliases)

  Gao Yazhang