From all the gigs out there, delivery service is one of the most popular ways to earn extra income. It has attracted many people looking for a side hustle. Apart from providing extra income, this gig also offers flexibility and convenience.
They were giving people the opportunity to deliver wherever and whenever they wanted without affecting their full-time jobs or their personal commitments such as study or family responsibilities. A gig that is simple enough to do for anyone is another reason.
When receiving a food delivery request, a delivery driver is only tasked with picking up the meals at the restaurant and then delivering them to the customer’s location. Of course, they must ensure that customer orders are received on time and in optimal conditions
When compared to other gigs such as ridesharing which requires quite a lot of requirements such as vehicle inspection and insurance. To start delivering with an on-demand delivery platform, they don’t need such complicated requirements. They only need to provide a few documents such as proof of ID, driver’s license and rego. Biker requirements are even less than that.
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Best delivery app to work for
Australia is a lucrative market for on-demand food delivery services. Many multinational companies operate in this country. According to Roy Morgan’s research, nearly 4 million Australians aged 14+ used meal delivery services in 2020, up from 1.9 million in mid-2018.
There are currently many on-demand delivery companies operating in Australia. However, there are only about 3 delivery apps that Australians use the most. The following are some delivery services that can be your place to apply to become a delivery driver.
- Uber Eats. Even though it is not the first delivery app in the region, Uber has succeeded in establishing its influence by becoming the market leader and used by 12.8% of Australians according to Roy Morgan’s findings in 2021.
- Menulog. It is a food delivery company that was founded in Australia. Menulog is one of the pioneers of online food ordering services in the country. The company has been operating since 2006 or more than 10 years ago.
- DoorDash. Of all the most well-known food delivery in the country, DoorDash was the last to arrive. To catch up, the company continues to expand to several cities and is currently available in every state nationwide.
- EASI and Hungrypanda. Food delivery platforms that focus on Asian and Chinese cuisine, serving one of Australia’s most loved dishes. The advantage of EASI and Hungrypanda is the large number of Asian and Chinese restaurants listed on their app, targeting quite a lot of Chinese and Asian communities across the country.
Which delivery app pays best in Australia?
As we know, on-demand delivery drivers’ earnings depend on many factors such as customer demands, time, location, current driver’s promotion and several other factors.
Working location is the most decisive factor among others. For example, if you deliver around Sydney near the city centre you can expect to make more. Apart from location, another important factor is the day and time. This mostly takes place during busy hours, during lunch and dinner. The busy hours time frames at lunch take place from 11 am to 2 pm and the dinner takes place from 5 pm to 10 pm.
However, here we will still try to give you an idea of how much a delivery driver in Australia makes every day, based on information from several delivery drivers we met.
1. Uber Eats
In most cities in Australia, an Uber Eats driver can easily complete 2 – 4 deliveries in an hour on average. A driver will get around $7 – $10 for every completed delivery order. With this rate, they could make approximately $25 per hour.
So, if they work 40 hours a week, they could make around $1,000 – $1,200 per week. If you’ve heard of drivers who earn close to $2,000, they probably work 60 – 70 hours a week.
Uber Eats Driver Pay Example
In early 2023 Uber introduced its Pack & Deliver service to its drivers. This is a new service where drivers have to shop for customers, including carrying out the checkout process with the Uber Plus virtual debit card that has been provided. This service opens up more opportunities for delivery partners to get more orders from Uber customers who want to shop for groceries from supermarkets.
Because the Pack & Deliver requires more effort than just picking up and delivering from a restaurant, the pay is also better. Based on the screen captures we got from several drivers, the pay for this kind of order is very good, many times higher than delivery-only orders.
Pack & Deliver Pay Example
Based on the screenshot above, the pay for completing Pack & Deliver orders is very appealing. Even though we only receive orders like this a few times a day, if they are totalled in a day, these orders will be able to increase the driver’s hourly pay rate on that day.
Not only that, some delivery drivers will also get the opportunity to get the driver’s incentive or commonly called Uber Quest whose value varies for each driver. For example, a driver will get an extra $140 when they complete 100 trips, +$40 if they do 15 more trips and another +$120 if they complete 15 more trips after that.
2. DoorDash
DoorDash drivers or also known as Dasher can complete 1-4 deliveries per hour, depending on the time and location where they are online during the time. The rate for each delivery request varies from $7 – $20 per delivery.
Dasher Australia Pay Example
Apart from regular delivery orders which assign drivers to pick up and drop off orders, DoorDash also offers Shop and Deliver services which require drivers to shop for items at a grocery or retail store, perform check out with Red Card then drop off the order at the customer’s location.
The pay for the Shop and Deliver orders is also better than regular orders. If pick-up and delivery orders usually only pay less than $10 per order, the shop and delivery offers more, around $15 – -$30 per order. The pay depends on several things, one of which is how many items you buy from the store.
Shop and Deliver Pay Example
The pay sometimes includes the peak pay promotion which can be seen on the heat map. This promotion takes place when demand is high in an area, and usually ranges from $1 to $5.
3. Menulog
According to a Menulog delivery driver we met, he delivered using this platform for multi-apping purposes or as a backup when Uber or DoorDash is quiet. That’s why the income he shows is not too much, maybe his income will be different if he makes the app the main platform.
Based on a screen capture of the earnings we saw, the Menulog rate per delivery isn’t too bad, the average earnings are around $10 per delivery. According to the screen capture, it only took him 49 trips to earn $516 in a single week.
Menulog Driver Pay Example
4. EASI and Hungrypanda
Even though they have been around for a long time in the country, EASI and Hungrypanda are still not very popular among delivery drivers. If you see a driver carrying a yellow bag with Chinese writing, chances are he is a delivery driver on one of these platforms.
As we know, Chinese cuisine is one of the most popular dishes. Based on a report from Roy Morgan in 2019, more than 14 million Aussies like to eat Chinese cuisine and now there may be more than that.
For the both delivery platforms, due to the lack of available information, we cannot accurately determine appropriate per hour or per day driver pay. However, it is likely that the driver pay is not too different from competing platforms. The following are screenshots of the Hungrypanda app receiving delivery requests.
Hungrypanda Pay Example
As we know, in Australia there are very significant Asian and Chinese communities, the number will be even bigger if you add international students from these countries. You can consider both apps if you want to tapping into a new market, since most of the restaurant-partners and customers in both apps come from this community.
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Which one is better: DoorDash vs UberEats in Australia
After DoorDash came to Australia, many existing delivery drivers asked questions. Is this newcomer better than Uber Eats? In our opinion, there is no exact answer to this question because each platform has its own pros and cons.
Uber Eats Pros over Doordash
As we know, Uber is very popular, which means it has a lot of customers in Australia. This has been proven by several delivery drivers. No shortage of orders day or night, weekends or weekdays, not just lunch or dinner times. Generally, less wait time between orders. As a new player, DoorDash will certainly take longer to acquire more customers.
In addition, to start working we don’t need to schedule a shift in certain zones/areas, just GO online whenever you want. Actually, at DoorDash you can also start working without scheduling but it only applies to drivers who have met the criteria to become a Top Dasher.
UberEats Cons over DoorDash
Uber pay isn’t as high overall, fewer boosts but sometimes you will get Quests which allow you to earn more. Some say DoorDash seems to pay more per delivery even though you have to wait longer between orders. We have written a more detailed explanation of daily or weekly earnings for these two platforms in another section of this article.
As we explained previously, these two platforms already have services that require drivers to shop for items at retail stores. The Pack & Deliver for Uber and the Shop and Deliver for DoorDash. Both of these services have quite high pay rates compared to the standard pick up only delivery.
However, currently DoorDash gives their drivers the preference to receive the Shop and Delivery only, while this preference is not found in the Uber driver app. If you are comfortable with this kind of order, you can expect a higher hourly pay rate from DoorDash.
Which one should I choose?
We recommend signing up for these two platforms together to complement each other, as many drivers say that DoorDash can help when Uber is quiet. So if you are already registered with Uber you can try to sign up to become a Dasher or vice versa.
By registering on these two platforms you will get more opportunities to get more orders. For example, when online on both applications at the same time (multiple-app), on DoorDash you may choose to only accept Shop and Delivery which pays better, this can also be done vice versa. But don’t forget to pay attention to your app acceptance and cancellation rate to avoid penalties.
DoorDash vs Menulog Driver Pay
Although Menulog arrived in Australia earlier than DoorDash, some drivers said they were getting more orders with DoorDash. But actually, it depends on the location and working time, because there are still people who say that they are getting more delivery requests with Menulog.
For the pay rate between DoorDash and Menulog, there is not too much difference. The rates per km are not far apart, more than $1 per km on average. We have explained a detailed explanation of the pay rates of the two in the previous section of this article.
If you are faced with a choice between the two, we still recommend you be active on these two platforms together. Because the pay might vary from day to day and area to area. If today’s DoorDash is better, maybe it will be Menulog’s turn to be better tomorrow.
Menulog vs UberEats
Honestly, they’re pretty much the same pay. Some delivery drivers say Menulog pays more per delivery, but because Uber Eats is more popular in Australia so you might get more deliveries overall. With Uber, you will also get double orders much more often.
Just choose which one is comfortable for you. Prefers to wait for more Menulog orders on the side of the road or is busy doing pickups and deliveries for Uber Eats with slightly lower pay. But keep in mind that Uber sometimes also provides opportunities to earn more with promotions and incentives such as quests and boosts.
One of the significant disadvantages of Menulog is that you have to schedule a shift to be able to start delivering, unlike Uber Eats which allows you to go online anytime. So, if you are planning to earn full-time earnings like $1,000+ per week you can consider prioritizing Uber orders when multi-apping. Menulog might also help you to get to those earnings targets faster when Uber is quiet.
Best times to deliver in Australia
Not every hour of the day is a good time to deliver with these platforms. That’s why understanding the busy hours that apply in the city where you work is very important.
As we know, delivering at busy hours can help you make the most of your earnings. Especially if you deliver with a vehicle that requires you to stop by a servo.
Busy hours can vary depending on the time of day, day of the week and several other factors. Here we try to let you know about when is the best time to deliver for delivery apps based on the median earnings of Uber delivery persons during May 2022.
Best time to deliver in Sydney and Melbourne – Uber.com
Early morning (3am – 6am) is not the best time to deliver considering the majority of individuals are still asleep in their beds. However, this is not fully applicable on weekends, as demand increases slightly on those days.
In the morning (6am-11am) it is not too different from the previous period, there are not too many delivery requests at these hours. Some delivery drivers usually start getting ready to leave the house to work at this time.
Lunch (11am – 2pm) is the first busy hour of the day. At this hour delivery persons can expect to get a lot of orders. So, make sure you are always in a busy area with lots of restaurants.
The afternoon (2pm – 5pm) is usually used by drivers to take a short break after being quite busy during lunch peak time. However, you can still expect to get a couple of orders during this time.
Dinner (5pm – 9pm) is the busiest hour after lunchtime. This applies on weekdays and will be very busy on weekends. You can expect to get more double delivery requests during dinner peak. So, make sure you’re in top condition and don’t forget to refuel your vehicle before this busiest hour starts.
At late night (9pm – 3am), delivery requests will slowly be reduced. Many drivers use it to take a break or prepare to go back home. However, some delivery persons take advantage of this period to work because of quiet traffic conditions and reduced competition from other drivers on the road.
Which delivery app should I join to?
All delivery apps that we mentioned earlier have their own gig drivers spread throughout Australia. Uber Eats is one of the platforms with the largest number of delivery drivers in the country.
But did you know that currently not all of these platforms routinely open opportunities for new drivers to register? Some of them will only open registration for new applicants only when the company thinks they need new drivers on the road.
Which delivery apps are easy to join?
Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog are delivery platforms that are quite easy to get into. It’s pretty easy to join these three platforms, as long as you have a clean background, a vehicle and a driver’s license. Some drivers say they can start working less than a week after signing up, although some take longer than that, especially for Menulog.
As far as we know, there is currently no waiting list for delivery drivers’ registration on these platforms in Australia. Once your account is activated, you can immediately work and make money. So it’s better to register directly on all those platforms because no one knows if one day they will limit registration to new drivers.
If you are confused about where to start or only want to register with one application. Consider choosing a platform that provides special offers for new delivery drivers.
For example, Uber Eats currently offers $300 extra when you sign up as a delivery person and complete several deliveries. You can read more details in our other post about Uber Eats sign up bonus.
If you look at the Menulog, they still open up opportunities for anyone to become delivery drivers on the platform. However, many drivers say the process was not as fast as Uber and DoorDash.
The Menulog activation process must go through several additional requirements, such as waiting for your hot bag to arrive, which of course takes a long time. If you didn’t order a hot bag during the registration process, you could also take a photo of the Menulog-approved bag on the courier portal.
You can also consider registering with Easi or Hungrypanda depending on whether they are available in your region. Registration is also quite easy, just like other platforms, you will also get a hot bag that can be installed on your bicycle. I myself often see Asian delivery drivers carrying this bag.
Regarding Deliveroo, some say that it is currently quite difficult to get into this platform (and currently they are leaving their operations in Australia.). They may only onboard new delivery drivers when they expect work to be available. This is understandable because they want to ensure that when new or existing drivers are online on the platform, there are sessions available for them.
Food Delivery Gigs Alternative in Australia
Easy to start and simple job is probably the reasons why the food delivery gig is well-accepted among Australians. But did you know that delivery gigs are not only related to food and restaurants?
So apart from being an Uber Eats or DoorDash delivery driver, you can also try identical jobs, such as being a courier on several platforms that connect business and customers.
The following are some of the logistics and delivery gig platforms that are officially operating in Australia.
- Amazon Flex
Amazon was officially launched in Australia at the end of 2017 and after taking a bigger share of the market they finally announced the Amazon Flex program in the country in 2020. As an Amazon Flex driver, your job is to pick up parcels from a nearby delivery station to be delivered to Amazon customers.The pay rate depends on the size of the car you choose and the length of the work. For instance, as a sedan driver, you can earn a minimum of $114 for a 4-hours block. Find out more about the Amazon Flex driver here.
- Sherpa
Sherpa is a delivery service based in Australia that offers on-demand delivery for businesses and individuals. The service can be found in major cities across Australia.Delivery drivers can earn from around $11 to $35 per delivery, depending on the delivery type and distance. Delivery partners are also eligible to earn bonuses for completing a certain number of deliveries or doing work during peak hours.
- Yello
Yello is a delivery service based in Australia that specializes in providing same-day and express delivery solutions for businesses.Yello does not publicly disclose its driver pay rates on its website or other sources. Yello’s pay structure for its drivers may depend on several factors such as location, type of delivery, and demand for services.
- Zoom2u
Zoom2u’s delivery platform connects customers with a network of independent drivers who use their vehicles to make deliveries and will be paid based on the number of deliveries they complete, with varying rates depending on the location, delivery type, and distance.According to their website, Zoom2u drivers can earn up to $60 per hour during peak hours, but earnings may vary based on demand and other factors.
1 Comment
F · December 3, 2024 at 1:31 am
Wanted share some info on Hungry Panda pay for Sydney. I delivered with them for 3-4 months, and here are the details.
The pay is abysmal. Average orders pay 3-6 AUD (sometimes 8 if the delivery distance is further away). You will be lucky to earn 15 AUD per hour delivering with Hungry Panda.
Their navigation counts your vehicle as a car regardless of whether you drive a bike or not, meaning the navigation can push you to drive on motorways if its your first time in an area and you don’t know where you are going.
Language barrier is a major issue, as about 90% of customers are Chinese students. Communication can slow if they expect you to speak basic Chinese while you expect them to speak basic English, and neither side can do their part.
Hungry Panda has rain incentives which increase payment per order by a multiplier. It usually ranges from 1.1x (light rain), 1.2x (rain) and 1.3x (heavy rain).
Tips are non-existent as the platform’s main selling point is the low costs for the customer.
Good thing about it is that, the orders are usually more consistent and more central for CBD area. Meanwhile UberEats will take you all the way from CBD to Penrith if you don’t pay attention to your overall location during a 8-hour shift.
Driver support would rather not spend time helping the driver, and would only contact you to make sure the food is safe, not you.
Hungry Panda is also very strict in terms of delivery timings, however the timing does not consider when you pick up the order as the driver, it only considers when the customer placed their order. Often times (%60 or more), order delivery time will “time-out” and this can lead to pay deductions or a 40-60 minute period where you receive no more orders because you delivered the order late. The main problem is that when a delivery driver arrives at the pickup location and the food is not ready, then the timer will still keep running. I remember having %89 of the orders being “late” on delivery times in my first day. And no, the percentage didn’t get better over time, there really is not much solution to that from the drivers perspective.
Another point about Hungry Panda is that orders are usually small items as they are mainly from Asian Cuisine (but mostly Chinese restaurants), this helps with space management in the delivery bag compared to order of UberEats often taking %50 or more space in the bag.
Hungry Panda also often assigns multiple orders. Around %80 of the time, you will have at least 2 orders in the bag, while around %30 of the time it will go up to 3 orders. It is very rare that you will complete the entire trip with a single order.
Hungry Panda app doesn’t provide you with optimal routes and expect the driver to decided what to pick up and what to drop. Each order is expected to be delivered within a specific time, you don’t have to pick up all assigned orders before moving to drop-offs or follow a specific delivery pick-up and drop-off sequence like UberEats has. This does provide flexibility but it does make it so that, as a driver, you know also have to be careful with accepting multiple orders that may be too far from one another or those that may take too long to deliver.
Around 10am-11am is dead hours, you will be lucky to get a single delivery.
Peak pay (lunch and dinner) doesn’t change the earnings that much.
There are no promotions, except for the initial signup bonus which gives around 200 AUD if you complete a certain amount of deliveries within first week. (not entirely sure about that, I might be misremembering)
Tips also don’t exist in the forms of handed cash, since it is mostly students delivering food to other students, both barely getting by.
Hungry Panda doesn’t have promotions, only multipliers when either:
a)There aren’t enough drivers for the amount of orders on the app
b)It is raining or bad weather, so less drivers on the road
UberEats will pay more than twice what Hungry Panda pays if you take advantage of UberEats promotions. Example for this being, a 12-hour shift with hungry panda (8am-8pm) pays around 175 AUD, while a 6-hour shift with UberEats (with promotions) paying 250 AUD. That’s half the time spent, and earned significantly higher. (I’m aware that promotions are a significant boost, but when you consider 10-12 AUD per hour average to a 25 AUD per hour average, the difference is rather clear).
So long story short, if you can, avoid using Hungry Panda.