Nowadays, takeout has long been integrated into daily life, and many friends cannot live without takeout service. In the daily delivery of food delivery riders, they often encounter problems such as climbing stairs in old communities without elevators, waiting for elevators during peak hours, and carrying large and heavy objects. Previously, these details were not factored into delivery revenue considerations.
Recently, Meituan's food delivery platform has fully launched "difficult delivery rewards". For communities that require climbing stairs, long-distance walking, and large and heavy items that are difficult to deliver, the system will automatically identify and give riders additional delivery rewards.
Previously, this type of differentiated labor costs had not been fully covered by platform pricing rules for a long time. If the platform distributes incentives and subsidies to riders, will the corresponding costs be transferred to consumers? How to price extra labor in food delivery?
Not long ago, rider representatives from all over the country negotiated with the Meituan food delivery platform on issues such as labor remuneration, order dispatching mechanism, rest and vacation, and labor protection, and signed an annual negotiation agreement. According to the agreement, Meituan will increase the billing weight of complex delivery orders such as overweight, large volume, and walking up and down stairs, and increase revenue remuneration under special weather conditions.
Zhang Xi, head of Meituan’s Rider Guarantee Team: Mainly to solve the problem of the last 100 meters of rider performance. We give riders "difficult delivery rewards" in terms of climbing high stairs, walking far, waiting for a long time on the stairs, and being relatively heavy. For example, it is sometimes difficult to wait for the elevator in an office building, so we will also provide supplementary payment for this order; if the single volume of the product exceeds 5 kilograms, it will be judged as a relatively heavy product, and we will also have a stepped compensation, up to a maximum of 90 yuan.
The platform’s “difficult-to-deliver rewards” are jokingly called “stair climbing fees” and “overweight fees” by netizens. Zhang Xi introduced that some communities prohibit the entry of take-out electric vehicles, and riders can only enter the community on foot to deliver goods door-to-door. If you walk more than 160 meters, the platform will also provide the rider with additional money.
Zhang Xi: In some communities, access control is complicated or battery-powered cars are not allowed to enter. Riders have to park their cars, register, walk in, and then take a detour. In fact, both users and riders are dissatisfied. For these communities, we will have some extra time in their delivery time. The walking distance in the community is relatively long, and battery vehicles are indeed not allowed in the community. We will provide shuttle bicycles to these communities.
How is this extra labor priced in food delivery? Meituan said that for communities that require climbing stairs, long-distance walking, and large and heavy items that are difficult to deliver, the system will automatically identify and give riders additional delivery rewards. Currently, this mechanism covers 185 cities across the country.
Zhang Xi: We now have a pricing standard, but in the process of formulating the pricing standard, we also held a symposium with riders (representatives) from all over the country to discuss with everyone how the pricing should be more reasonable.
Meituan stated that riders’ “difficult-to-deliver rewards” will be borne by the platform, and the specific amount will be displayed on the rider App settlement page. Mr. Ji, a rider in Meituan's "Happy Running" model, told reporters that the "difficult delivery reward" for each order is different and is automatically recognized and calculated by the platform.
Mr. Ji: I actually received it two days ago. For example, for those that are very far away from the community, especially those that climb to the 7th floor, the delivery fee will be an additional 5 cents or 1 yuan or 2 yuan, depending on the difficulty. As far as I know, the consumer only pays for the delivery fee, and the customer does not pay for this.
The reporter checked the screenshots of the income from multiple takeaway orders that Mr. Ji has run recently. Some orders have "difficult delivery rewards" of 0.5 yuan, while others are 2 yuan. For example, the total revenue of an order is 6.5 yuan, of which the basic order fee is shown as 5.5 yuan, and the difficult-to-fulfill reward is 1 yuan.
Mr. Mi, a rider of Meituan’s takeaway “Lepao”, made a rough calculation and found that under normal circumstances, the “difficult delivery reward” is about 10% of the order revenue. In specific operations, riders do not need to apply separately.
Mr. Mi: This is calculated by the platform itself, based on the time it takes us to deliver orders. Basically, if you climb to the 6th floor, you will pay 50 cents or 60 cents, and if you go to the 4th floor or above, you will basically have to pay 50 cents or 60 cents. There are also communities that do not allow cars to enter, and now they have delivery difficulty subsidies. For example, there is a community in our area that does not allow cars to enter. The community is quite large. The building that is the farthest away now pays 70 cents or 80 cents.
Meituan said that the platform is using AI models to evaluate communities where food delivery is difficult to deliver one by one, and accurately identify the "difficulties" in each community. After identification, the system will automatically extend the delivery time for orders in these communities.
In response to the problems faced by takeout delivery such as peak queues and parking difficulties, Taobao Flash Sales and the competent authorities have launched a "takeout relay" model for difficult-to-get and difficult-to-delivery locations such as shopping malls, hospital campuses, and large communities, with segmented collaboration and dedicated personnel to pick up and deliver. In addition, Taobao flash sales have optimized and adjusted the "basic delivery income composition" of the rider's income per order, canceling the "difficulty star" expression and replacing it with a more intuitive difficulty subsidy increase.
Taobao Flash Shopping Logistics Safety Director Qiu Rongrong: We have also developed a model. The rider’s walking distance, climbing distance, and distance of lifting objects will collect some information and combine it into a large model. When this model reaches a certain score, it may trigger an algorithm reminder when the rider needs to take a rest. It is recommended to take a rest or make some adjustments in dispatching orders.
Tang Hongmiao, a professor at the School of Civil and Commercial Economics at China University of Political Science and Law, has long been concerned about the protection of workers' rights and interests in new employment forms. She told reporters that recently, many Internet platforms have been responding to the "Measures for the Protection of Workers' Rights and Interests in New Employment Forms (Draft for Comment)" issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on October 8, clarifying the boundaries of labor remuneration through the disclosure of algorithmic rules and collective consultation.
Tang Hongmiao also said that the leading platforms have improved corresponding algorithms and issued special agreements on labor rules, as well as annual agreements signed at various forums, increased the charging weight of difficult orders, and added special weather compensation. This is the first step in transforming the provisions of the regulations into platform rules. The collective consultation mechanism has thus begun to assume the function of legislative implementation.
Producer丨Liu Li
Reporter丨Guan Xin
