Is being a foodpanda rider worth the hustle?

Please continue reading if you love money.

Belmont Lay | | Sponsored | December 07, 2020, 07:00 PM

If you love money and are thinking of ways to make more, you’re in luck.

foodpanda is on the lookout for more food delivery personnel to join their ever-growing rider community.

According to foodpanda, top riders who aim for the most deliveries can make up to S$10,000 a month with incentives thrown in.

But as a hustle on weeknights or weekends? How much can one make?

Long story short: Up to about S$25 an hour -- on a good day, plus weekly incentives.

Here’s how the math checks out.

Pros of being a foodpanda rider

foodpanda riders are freelancers.

They don’t have structured hours and can deliver food whenever, wherever, for as long or as little hours as they wish

They can choose to hustle close to home, or other delivery zones, and in the process, discover other parts of Singapore.

This is one way to find out about restaurants and pay them a visit in the future.

Currently, there is even an incentive for signing up: New riders who do 20 orders in seven days from the date of creating an account will get S$50.

No bicycle or motorcycle? No problem.

Those who lack transportation also shouldn’t worry.

There is no need to pay money to get a bicycle or learn to ride a motorcycle before starting.

foodpanda riders don’t even need to own their own set of wheels to do deliveries, as foodpanda has tied up with another company to provide free bicycle rentals for riders.

foodpanda has also launched an e-bike rental/ “lease-to-own” scheme, where you can potentially own an e-bike after fulfilling certain criteria.

Doing food delivery is also a good way to exercise and make money at the same time.

Other ways to make money

Besides delivering food, foodpanda also has a referral incentive of up to S$485 for every friend you successfully referred.

Monetary rewards aside, foodpanda is also giving riders free monthly foodpanda vouchers, grocery vouchers, Decathlon vouchers, NTUC vouchers and limited edition merchandise.

All of these have been made possible as foodpanda has fine-tuned its system to ensure that riders get paid very attractive fees within this industry.

And for those who want to start as soon as possible, application is super quick and easy.

Just apply, go down to the hub, and start immediately.

Or for those who are too busy to make your way down, apply entirely online, get verified over a call and get your equipment delivered to your doorstep.

Here is a crash course on how to make the most of one's time delivering with foodpanda.

1. Delivering food during special hours

While it is true that people eat any time of the day, the bulk of food orders are placed during lunch and dinner time.

To make the most money in the shortest number of fixed hours possible -- so that orders can be allocated to the rider one after another -- the focus of the rider ought to be from 11am to 2pm Mondays to Sundays, and 5pm to 8pm Fridays to Sundays.

Here’s an additional tip. For riders that prefer to do orders at night, they are in luck as pandamart peaks after dinner time.

Deliver smart and hard.

2. Concentrate on one geographical area

Some areas in Singapore see more food orders than others and those areas have been identified.

foodpanda has set up a booking system for riders to choose the geographical zones they want to concentrate on and the number of hours they want to deliver for that shift.

Riders can choose if they want to deliver close to where they live for convenience, or travel to town where food delivery services are in higher demand and offer higher takings.

This system allows foodpanda to spread out the riders island-wide without causing unnecessary idling as food delivery jobs are allocated more efficiently and with less lull.

For those who want a little more structure to their routine, the great thing about foodpanda is that you can plan your schedule ahead of time.

You can choose your delivery slots a week before.

This eliminates the chance of too many food delivery personnel in one location at one time and this gives you a better chance of receiving more orders.

foodpanda has also introduced a change to their system: Riders now have the option to choose which deliveries they want to accept.

However, in order to have a higher acceptance rate (which will translate to higher incentives and fees), riders are recommended to accept all orders that are assigned to them.

And to encourage riders who have high acceptance rates and who religiously clock in for their shifts without being late or having no-shows, foodpanda’s system would reward them with additional batch and quest incentives.

The positive feedback effect then kicks in: The more you deliver the more money you make.

3. Aim for incentives

foodpanda’s incentives are transparent and are updated weekly.

This allows riders to know where the hot spots are and to pick those spots. Riders can make up to an additional S$3 per delivery by choosing the right spots.

You are effectively your own supervisor.

4. Be a Batch 1 rider

For those who hustle harder, they will get rewarded more.

As an example, Batch 1 riders refer to those who have high acceptance rates, do more special hours, turn up on time for their booked shifts and take less breaks. These riders are rewarded through batch incentives.

5. How to make foodpanda delivery the ultimate hustle

With this information in mind, it is possible to make foodpanda delivery the ultimate hustle.

Here’s how: Deliver in town during lunch and dinner peak periods, especially from Friday to Sunday and focus on accepting all orders.

Make sure to turn up on time for your shifts and to take breaks only where necessary.

foodpanda has created the dynamic service fees model that takes into account the following factors: Distance, vehicle, zone, time, acceptance rate and batch.

foodpanda has structured the system on how hard riders want to push themselves.

foodpanda is now also offering higher remuneration for longer distances travelled to take into consideration the amount of effort and time put in by the rider.

For those on motorbikes, the incentives over one weekend for completing 45 orders can be between S$45 and S$120.

Keen to try out being a foodpanda rider? You can sign up here.

If all else fails, you can finally get a chance to wear pink and make new friends within the ever-growing foodpanda community.

This sponsored post was brought to you by foodpanda, just like how your food is delivered to you by foodpanda.