DoorDash Driver in New Zealand: Pay Rate, Requirements, Availability and more

After more than two years of operation in Australia, DoorDash is finally available in New Zealand starting May 2022. The positive growth of their on-demand delivery service in neighbouring countries may be a strong motive for their decision to open their service here.

In New Zealand, DoorDash will go head to head with Uber Eats, which is an existing market leader in the country. In addition, the company will compete with the local delivery platform Deliveryeasy and Menulog, which was previously well-known by Kiwis.

On-demand food and grocery delivery service in NZ have been growing rapidly lately even before the pandemic. And as expected, it is getting stronger when the lockdown is enforced and people are starting to adapt to the new normal life.

DoorDash Availability in NZ

Doordash has started its services in Wellington, a city also known as the culinary capital of New Zealand. In the future, the number of cities served will increase from time to time.

The company certainly needs a lot of time to prepare its services, such as collaborating with restaurants, grocery stores and several other merchants. In addition, they also need time to recruit DoorDash delivery drivers or commonly known as Dasher.

It is predicted that their services will reach just about every urban city in the country, at least they will open their services in cities where their main competitor – Uber Eats has been operating.

As we know, the Uber delivery service in NZ has been operating for a long time in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Palmerston North, Dunedin, Hamilton, Queenstown, and Lower Hutt.

DoorDash Driver Requirements in New Zealand

For Kiwis who want to become a Dasher, whether to make it a main side hustle or simply to make it as a backup or companion for other delivery platforms. You can register from now on because registration is now open and DoorDash welcomes any delivery drivers across the country.

The requirements to become a driver is not much different from other delivery platforms. So, if you were previously registered as a delivery driver with Uber Eats, Menulog or Delivereasy then you will have no problem getting approved at DoorDash.

The following is a list of requirements to become a Dasher in New Zealand:

• At least 18 years old
• Are able to provide your personal identity like Passport, Driver’s Licence, Student Card, Bank or Credit Card.
• Pass a free online background check from NCC to verify your identity and right to work in the country.
• Having an NZBN (New Zealand Business Number)
• A Driver’s Licence for those who want to deliver with a car or scooter.
• Complete several online training sessions including Food Handling & Vehicle Safety.

Regarding a driver’s licence, it’s always recommended to provide a full or unrestricted licence. But you can try to upload your restricted license to register.

Because based on experience in Australia, DoorDash still gives leeway to its drivers by receiving provisional licenses there. Moreover, as far as we know, other delivery platforms in NZ such as Deliveryeasy stated that a restricted licence is a minimum for scooters or cars.

DoorDash Vehicle Requirements

If you prefer to use a bicycle including an electric bike, you don’t need to provide any vehicle documents. Vehicle requirements are only required when you choose a car, or scooter as a vehicle type when applying.

The vehicle needs to be validly registered, in good condition and roadworthy, and in accordance with every safety law in the country. The following are some documents that you need to provide:

• Vehicle Registration Certificate and WoF. The vehicle must be registered and have a current warrant of fitness (WoF) to legally drive it on the road.
• Vehicle Insurance. The insurance must be commercial in most cases.

Step by step Registration

For those who want to know how the registration process to become a DoorDash driver is. Here we present step by step on how to become Dasher in New Zealand.

1. Go to the DoorDash Driver NZ page
   The registration process can be started by signing up online via the official website below. You can sign up using a smartphone or computer.
   Sign Up

   

   Join now while registration is open!

   Highlights

   • FREE! NCC Background Check
   • Easy requirements, use bike or any vehicle to deliver
   • Use your Full or Restricted Driver’s Licence are accepted
   • Limited time offer! Free Activation Kit containing a jacket or hoodie, a hot bag and PPE Kit

   Dasher NZ Sign Up

2. Input email address, phone number and zip.
   At the initial stage, you will need to input your email address. Don’t forget to double-check your email address and phone number because DoorDash will not verify it at the initial registration. When there is a mistake in the information you entered, you will not be able to receive all notifications regarding your registration status.
   

   Input Email Phone and ZIP

   Next, you will be asked to enter a New Zealand postal code where you will work later. Make sure to enter valid information because if there is an error, you may be assigned to another city.

3. Select Vehicle Type
   At this stage, you will be asked to choose the type of vehicle you will use to deliver with DoorDash. There are three types of vehicle options that you can choose: car, scooter, or bicycle.

   Each vehicle has its own document requirements, so before choosing one of them, make sure the required documents, such as vehicle registration and insurance are on hand. Because there is no option to change vehicle type and you have to contact the support team.

4. Setting Up Driver’s Profile dan Account

   The next step is setting up your profile by entering your full name. After that enter login details by entering the password you choose. Make sure to enter a unique strong password that is easy to remember, because it will be used to log into the Dasher app.

   

   Dasher Details and vehicle Type

   After that, you will be asked to enter a few more details regarding your personal information such as your birth date and New Zealand Business Number (NZBN). You can apply for a business number online and it’s free of charge for every Kiwi business, from sole traders to major corporations.

5. Complete a Background Check
   A police Check, also known as a background check, is the most important procedure in the registration process on this platform. If there are no problems processing your personal details, the check result will appear in a couple of days followed by the activation of your Dasher account.

   In New Zealand DoorDash has teamed up with National Crime Check (NCC) to help obtain a police check and right to work check fast and as simple as possible. The same agency that Uber uses to process their driver’s background check.

   

   Background Check by NCC

   So, if you just did a police check with Uber (or any delivery or rideshare platforms) in the last 3 months, you can take advantage of their police certificate sharing. This will help the police check process faster because they don’t have to repeat the process from the beginning.

   If you want to share your NCC police check results with DoorDash, you can send an email to NCC with “Share My Certificates With DoorDash” as the subject and include your 7 digit check ID number and full name, date of birth and mobile number. Find out more about the police check process in our other posts.

6. Dasher Account Activation
   You’re eligible for activation if you have completed all the registration processes and have passed the background check. When the activation process has been successful you will receive a notification via text message and email.

   You can find out more in our other articles about Dasher activation which cover your account activation status, how long to get activated, what’s preventing you from being activated and how to speed up the process.

7. Download Dasher App
   After getting a notification about Dasher account activation status, you can immediately go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to download the DoorDash – Dasher app. Log in with your username and password that you set earlier when you signed up.

   You might need to verify your mobile phone number before accessing the app, a verification code will be sent to your number. After logging in, you can also set up your payment so that you can receive your weekly payment.

8. Dash Now or Schedule a Dash
   After successfully logging into the Dasher app you can immediately schedule a Dash or start a Dash Now when you are online in a busy area. Congratulations, now you are ready to accept delivery orders for DoorDash consumers in your area and start earning.

   As a new Dasher maybe you will receive an error message when going to Dash Now or scheduling a shift with the app. The most common error messages for new drivers are “You do not have permission to perform this action” and “Dasher must be active to schedule dashes”.

   Don’t panic, it’s a common error that will go away on its own. The error message indicates that your Dasher account is not fully active, which is most likely due to the incomplete background check process. Find out more about this issue in our other posts.

DoorDash Driver Pay Rate in New Zealand

As you may know, actual earnings may differ and depend on many factors like customer’s demands, time of the day and locations. The pay rate of a delivery platform can also be seen from how much they pay for a completed delivery order.

Dasher’s earning per delivery request depends on the base pay (sometimes plus peak pay when it’s busy) on every delivery order. Just like other delivery platforms, peak pay promotion may be in effect when it’s busy. The promotion will be added to the total pay, it will be shown before you accept a delivery request.

DoorDash Peak Pay in Wellington

We haven’t been able to get more detailed information about how much DoorDash pays rate in NZ at this time. Currently, the DoorDash service is only available in some areas of Wellington, other cities still in the process of rolling out. We will update this page when we have more information about it.

However, the rate might not be too different from the drivers in Australia. Considering that the two countries have many things in common when it comes to everyday life. Based on the data we got from several delivery drivers in Australia. The DoorDash pay rate is on average higher than competitors like Uber Eats even though it’s not as busy as Uber.

As an illustration of how much DoorDash pays rate per delivery in the neighbouring country, here we give an example of two different types of delivery work from Dasher, regular order and the Shop & Deliver order.

Standard vs Shop and Deliver Order in Australia

Regular orders are common orders for a Dasher, in this type of order, the driver is only responsible for picking up the orders from restaurants or other merchants and then delivering them to consumers. While the Shop & Deliver order, the driver must shop for consumer items, process the checkout with the provided red card then deliver it to the customer’s address.