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“If you want to know how well restaurants are doing, just look at the orders on our phones,” says Li Xuezhen, a delivery rider in Beijing. Speaking on July 28th, she noted the recent surge in food delivery orders has translated directly into increased earnings. “More runs, more money. It’s a really good feeling to be busy.”
Last month, five riders at Ele.me’s Heshanghui business district station in Beijing saw their incomes exceed ¥30,000 (approximately $4,200 USD), while 70% of riders earned over ¥10,000 (approximately $1,400 USD).
On July 28th, the China New Employment Form Research Center, the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, and the Chaoyang District Federation of Trade Unions jointly hosted a rider and merchant forum with Ele.me. Experts, scholars, merchants, associations, and rider representatives at the forum agreed that healthy competition among platforms is driving consumer spending, creating a win-win scenario: platform order growth, increased merchant revenue and profits, better rider incomes, and enhanced consumer benefits, forming a positive cycle of “consumption-driven – merchant growth – rider income growth – job expansion.”
My Feed is Full of Rider Recruitment Ads: Some Earn ¥30,000 a Month
“Last month, I completed 3,050 orders. With high prices during peak season and weather subsidies, commissions totaled ¥27,750. Adding a ‘per-order award’ of ¥1 per order, along with a ¥1,000 referral bonus, my income reached over ¥31,000,” said Lao Zhang, an Ele.me rider who has been working in the Heshanghui business district for two years. Thanks to the peak delivery season and the launch of Taobao Flash Sales, his June income reached a new record.
Lao Zhang’s income growth is not unique. Qi, the station chief at Ele.me’s Heshanghui station, stated that five riders earned over ¥30,000 in June, and more than 70% earned over ¥10,000. Furthermore, the station recruited more than 50 new riders, creating more job opportunities. “The riders are very happy; it feels like the New Year every day. We are also providing logistical support, and we believe that incomes will continue to improve in July and August.”
(Caption: Beijing food delivery riders talk about earning ¥30,000 a month: Whether business is booming or not, just look at our orders.)
Data shows that since the launch of Taobao Flash Sales, the overall number of riders has increased by 78% year-on-year, with crowdsourced riders increasing by 120%. The income of riders has also increased significantly, with the average monthly income of active and stable crowdsourced riders exceeding ¥12,500 (approximately $1,750 USD).
“With more orders, although we are constantly on the move, we feel secure,” said Li Xuezhen, who has been delivering food in Beijing for four years, at the forum. While there are more orders, demand is not limited to lunch and dinner peak hours. Increased deliveries include daily necessities and retail goods, freeing up previously idle time. “More runs, more money. We don’t have to worry about daily expenses anymore. Millions of people like me are managing their lives with this income.”
“Recently, most of the advertisements on my social media feed are for recruitment – riders, station managers, city operations, managers. There’s a constant influx of people, it’s a booming force for employment,” said Wan Ying, Secretary-General of the Intra-City Instant Logistics Branch of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. Riders are the cornerstone of the industry. More food delivery orders mean more business for small shops and more benefits for consumers. This growth relies on the efforts of thousands of delivery riders, and the care and support for riders are also being strengthened in parallel with the improvement of rider income and employment.
A Win-Win Situation: Easier to Recruit Brand Agents, Stores Accelerate Hiring
“Since the launch of Taobao Flash Sales, our biggest changes have been increased revenue, increased profits, easier recruitment of agents, and easier site selection,” said Li Xiaosong, founder of Shancha Fu, a two-year-old tea brand, at the forum. The brand launched food delivery from its inception, and its orders have now doubled, with delivery orders accounting for nearly 80% and profits increasing by 50%.
Sun Yue, head of the delivery platform for the brand “Hehegu,” also stated that July delivery orders increased by more than 100% compared to June, far exceeding the same period last year. In terms of order composition, total sales and total profits were also higher than the same period last year. With a significant increase in order volume, stores have begun to accelerate hiring. Zhu Guangsheng, founder of Molixiang Duck Neck King, said that as an individual merchant, the most difficult problem was how to increase visibility. He has tried many methods with little effect. With recent promotional activities, both order volume and profits have doubled, and the number of in-store customers and telephone inquiries has also increased rapidly. “It’s very friendly to small merchants like us.”
“This is a very promising industry. Our research report shows that instant retail is expected to reach 500 million orders per day in the future,” said Li Yongjian, a researcher at the Institute of Finance and Economics Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at the forum. Empirical research based on micro-data shows that opening food delivery has a significant positive impact on the total sales and delivery sales of restaurants, and also has a slight increase in dine-in sales. Opening food delivery significantly increases the total order volume, delivery order volume, and dine-in order volume of restaurants.
“Our team’s Liu Yi conducted research on 60,000 merchants and found that the increase in delivery orders does not affect dine-in orders. What does the increase in delivery orders replace? Mainly instant noodles and individuals cooking at home,” said Li Yongjian. Food delivery services provide a new operating channel for restaurants, expanding consumers’ catering consumption capacity and reducing the cost of restaurant delivery services, which can help the overall operation of restaurants and expand the catering industry.
Consumer Confidence is Up, Experts Discuss the “Multiplier Effect” of Food Delivery Employment
The forum was held with the guidance and support of the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions and the Chaoyang District Federation of Trade Unions. At the meeting, An Jing, Deputy Director of the Rights and Interests Work Department of the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, said that the forum serves as a diversified communication method, giving food delivery riders more channels to express their demands. “With the launch of Flash Sales, rider orders have increased, incomes have increased, merchant benefits have improved, consumption is more active, and the platform has also expanded employment. It’s a win-win situation.”
“The total daily order volume of food delivery and Flash Sales has exceeded 250 million, which not only reflects the strong recovery of the consumer market but also demonstrates the core supporting role of algorithm scheduling in large-scale instant delivery. Behind this lies the deep integration of the platform economy, workers, and new consumer demands,” said Zhang Chenggang, Director of the China New Employment Form Research Center and Associate Professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business.
(Caption: Data shows that since the launch of Taobao Flash Sales, the overall number of riders has increased by 78% year-on-year, with crowdsourced riders increasing by 120%.)
In Zhang Chenggang’s view, the positive data from platforms and merchants, and the increased income of riders are boosting confidence. There is a multiplier effect of platform ecosystem employment in the food delivery field. With the breakthrough in order volume, the entire ecosystem will see an increase in jobs, and employment will not be limited to delivery positions. There will also be a large number of new positions such as live streaming shopping guides, instant retail operations, warehousing and distribution scheduling, and digital store management. These new positions can become career development paths for riders.
Chen Duan, Director of the Digital Economy Integration and Innovation Development Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that the recent consumption promotion measures of the platform have stimulated many dormant demands and driven the incremental expansion of the service consumption market. The “employment reservoir” effect formed in this process not only increases the income of riders but also plays a role in stabilizing growth and ensuring people’s livelihoods, thereby driving the volume growth of the demand side, the supply side, and the employment side, demonstrating the responsibility of the platform economy in “activating new consumption and unblocking dual circulation.”
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