Quick commerce platforms are expected to see a surge in the demand for gig delivery riders as the festive season approaches. The firms such as Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit anticipate need for delivery riders to rise by nearly 40 per cent as peak demand days occur during the upcoming festivals, media reports said.
To meet this increasing demand, the overall home delivery sector is anticipated to see hirings for 1-2 million gig riders during the festive period, reported The Economic Times. The food delivery firms and ecommerce players are specifically expected to bring in about 20 per cent more gig riders to deal with the surge during the peak festive season.
Citing Anantha Narayanan, Senior Vice-President, TeamLease, the report explained that currently quick commerce entities operate overall 3-4 lakh riders, while the players in the ecommerce and food delivery segment work with a larger force fo 4-5 million gig riders. About two-thirds of these are involved in the ecommerce sector.
Quick commerce accounts for a meager part of the overall demand, the executive said. However, he added, that the demand has been growing at a quick pace. Further, the report noted that some part of this increasing demand is expected to be supported by riders who adopt gig work temporarily during the festive season.
Capitalising on the elevated demand, the delivery riders are also expecting to reap the rewards from the rush and see an improvement in their earnings from peak-hour bonuses in the festive season.
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Typically in big cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi, the delivery riders earn anywhere between Rs 20-30 per order, however, this amount differs on the order size and distance travelled by the rider, the riders working for quick commerce entities revealed.
Further, the gig riders also earn bonuses during high-demand hours and get incentives for finishing the target of a particular number of orders or hours.