What do Dashers want from DoorDash? Okay, that would be more pay. But absent of that, what else could DoorDash do to make delivery with them a better experience?
We asked you to tell us what driver features you actually want, plus contributor Elijah Bilel shared what top features he’d like to see added in this article below.
10 Features Dashers Actually Want from DoorDash
1. Destination filters
This is similar to what Uber and Lyft have. When driving rideshare on Uber and Lyft, you’re given 2 destination filters. When you turn that mode on, the app only sends you trips that are going in the direction of the address that you set.
It’s a feature that I feel the delivery app industry is lacking in general but I feel would be a useful feature for DoorDash. Mainly because the DoorDash system of dispatching orders to drivers is entirely based on the zones that they have set up.
If you accept an order that takes you too far out of your zone, you will not receive requests until you drive back to the zone you started in. It would be great if they added a destination mode where once you turn it on, you can receive a request from that new zone that could take you back to the zone you came from. Speaking of zones, that leads us to the next feature on our list!
2. Rework or drop the zone concept
When comparing DoorDash to the other delivery apps, I feel that the zone concept is outdated. The way it works currently is you have up to sign up to dash in a zone. If that zone doesn’t have enough demand to meet the number of drivers in it, the zone will appear grey.This means that you can’t dash right away unless you’re a top dasher.
Believe it or not, all of the delivery apps started with a similar model to this. Over time though, they dropped the feature and switched over to a “go online when you want to” model. I personally would rather see the whole concept dropped, but if it’s gonna stay, I think it needs to be reworked.
As it stands, if a neighboring zone is busy, DoorDash will start to send you deliveries from that zone. To me, that is kind of flirting with the notion of not having zones while still having them. In addition to this, you can get orders that will take you out of your zone like mentioned in number 1 on this list.
If you accept, you will need to drive back to the zone you started in or quit your dash and start a new one in that new zone. It’s overly complicated for no reason and it involves more fidgeting with your phone than I personally care for. I think it’s time for DoorDash to join the club with the other delivery apps and get rid of it or rework it to be something closer to what Grubhub does with their blocks.
3. A rental car program
Some drivers would prefer not to use their own car to drive. While there are some options available to accommodate this preference, it would be nice if DoorDash offered some kind of rental car program like Uber and Lyft do.
Find a list of car rental options for rideshare and delivery companies here.
4. Tip transparency
On Doordash, you see what you will be getting paid on the accept screen before you accept the delivery. This may not be the total amount that you are paid though. Right underneath the payment amount, the app says “Total may be higher”.
This is because the customer tip amount may or may not be higher than what’s calculated in the amount shown. As drivers, we need to know the full details of what we’re accepting. Showing the full amount that will be paid out before accepting is a much-desired feature.
5. Letting customers increase their tip after delivery
Customers can tip before or after their delivery. This is a feature that would be awesome for drivers, and something that wouldn’t be too hard to add on the customer’s end. Oftentimes customers may be feeling extra generous. This is something that Uber Eats does, and it helps drivers make more money. Below is an example of this:
The customer can increase their tip for up to one hour after the food is delivered. Adding something similar to the DoorDash customer app would help dashers make more, which in turn would be awesome and very much appreciated.
6. A reduced fee for fast pay
I remember the days when fast pay wasn’t an option in the gig economy. You just had to wait for your money to be deposited into your account on a weekly basis.
Then Uber came out with the cash-out option for just 50 cents. This allows you to cash out your balance to a debit card of your choice, letting you get your money sooner. Lyft, Postmates, Instacart, and DoorDash followed suit adding fast pay options.
The fee to use this feature on DoorDash is almost 4 times higher than the other mentioned apps though. It’s almost $2 just to cash out your money.
Those fees can add up over time. As drivers, we would love to see that fee reduced to 50 cents like the others have, or at the very least, see it lowered.
7. Ability to add PayPal as a payment option
Since we’re on the topic of payments, it would be nice to see PayPal as an option that you can receive payment though. Truth be told, this is a request of the industry in general, not just DoorDash. But, since we’re talking about DoorDash in this article, many drivers would like to receive their earnings via PayPal.
8. A shorter cancellation window when the customer isn’t reachable
If you arrive at the customer dropoff and you’re unable to give the food to the customer, Dasher protocol is to try to call and text them. If they don’t pick, you start the timer and wait 8 minutes. If they still can’t be reached, you’re instructed to leave the order in a safe place. From there, you can complete the order and get paid without any penalties.
With the introduction of the leave at the door option that started in 2020, I feel that the window that’s required to wait before you cancel and get paid should be a lot shorter. Mainly because leaving food at the doorstep is now an industry standard and is no longer a big deal. So, if the customer can’t be reached, leaving the food at the doorstep should be known by the customer.
I feel that the timer should be reduced from 8 minutes to 3 minutes. This would be a feature that would help both drivers and DoorDash since the longer a delivery takes, the longer a driver isn’t available to accept another delivery. And if a driver has accepted another delivery, the additional required wait time is inconveniencing the next customer.
9. Not pausing your dash for declining offers
If you decline between 5 to 10 deliveries in a row on DoorDash, the message below will appear and your dash will be paused:
At the very least, we as drivers find this annoying. At the very most, it just increases the amount of phone finagling that you have to do with DoorDash where on other delivery apps, you don’t. Removing or adjusting this feature would help to not make DoorDash stand out for the wrong reasons.
10. A automatic switch option between light and dark modes
On Uber, you have the option to change in the app whether night mode is off where everything is white or on where things are black/grey. At night, it’s easier on the eyes to be in night or dark mode on your app. DoorDash has this option too with night mode being called dark mode.
But what Uber has that DoorDash doesn’t is an automatic option. After a certain time, the app automatically switches to night mode around when the sun fully goes down. This would be great to see on DoorDash, too. So you wouldn’t have to manually switch between the two modes.
Last Thoughts
Those are 10 features that dashers want when delivering with DoorDash. Many would be relatively easy for DoorDash to implement and would likely improve the experience for dashers, customers and even DoorDash.
What features would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below!
-Elijah @ RSG
