DoorDash Coles Delivery, How Is It Profitable?

AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 18:23

I've been using DoorDash to get Coles stuff delivered a lot recently. Delivery is $5.99 plus 10% service fee, or $0 plus 10% if you have Dash Pass (which is $10 a month or $5 a month for students). The stuff is the same price as in store, even catalogue specials.

I'm just wondering how this is possible. If you have Dash Pass and get two deliveries a week just over $30 to get free delivery, then DoorDash is making $1.25 per delivery (or 62 cents for students), plus $3 service fee. The driver has to drive to Coles, walk in there and pick all the stuff off the shelf, order your meat from the butcher, then walk out of the store (apparently they don't line up, they just flash their Door Dash thing on the way out), then drive to my house. How are they doing that for less than $5?

Even if they made 15-30% of the order total that's still $9.40-$14 for what has to be at least 30 minutes work. Are Coles' margins that good that they can afford to give DoorDash 30% just to land an extra sale?

In any case I've been using it a lot. 10% service fee has to be cheaper than driving my car to Coles and back, or even cheaper than a return bus ticket.

Food & Grocery Grocery Delivery

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Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2023 - 18:31

    order your meat from the butcher

    Within Coles or a separate store?

    • AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 18:35
      +2

      The Coles butcher. When I order chicken breast the driver goes to the counter and orders $10 worth of breast, they wrap up in paper $14.24 of breast, and then my whole order gets refunded and they charge me again the new adjusted price +$4.24 extra breast.

      It's a real time saver. Going to the supermarket is one of my least favourite chores. With DoorDash I pay like $3 extra per small shop, plus $5 a month for Dash Pass as a student, and I don't need to deal with anyone. The driver even leaves the bags of groceries without me needing to deal with them, it's the perfect system.

      • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2023 - 18:47
        +1

        I dislike grocery shopping as much as the next person however I buy meat from the butcher/poultry store & fruit/veges from Farmers' Markets so it's not a one-stop shop.

        Why do you minimise dealing with people? I barely say 'boo' to anyone when doing a grocery shop at the supermarket.

        • AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 19:07
          +1

          How much better could the Farmers' Markets chicken breast possibly be.

          Dealing with people is a chore, even the staff at the supermarket look like they kinda hate doing it. If it's a boring job for them, then it's a boring job for me in the same way.

          • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2023 - 19:17

            @AustriaBargain: You're buying from farmers so fresher than what is available at the supermarkets.

            I agree that the attendant within the self-serve checkouts section should be paid danger money however there is barely any interaction with staff unless you initiate something yourself.

            • AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 22:51
              -2

              @[Deactivated]: Coles must sell a million chickens a day, I think I can trust their supply line more than whatever dodgy chicken farmer you buy your breasts from. You should be paid danger money for eating the mystery chicken you buy at the farmers market.

              • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2023 - 23:54

                @AustriaBargain: Dunno why you're trying to make it all about the chooks when it clearly isn't.

              • coffeeinmyveins on 11/08/2023 - 08:56
                +1

                @AustriaBargain:

                You should be paid danger money for eating the mystery chicken you buy at the farmers market.

                I love how brainwashed you are that you see a multi-billion dollar faceless company as your friend and the smiling butcher who has worked there for his whole life as your enemy, trying to poison you.

                Hilarious

      • brendanm on 10/08/2023 - 19:33

        Are you a student? Or just gaming the system?

        • AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 22:49

          Free UTAS design certificate deal. I work in design so not really just gaming the system.

  • ggfatty on 10/08/2023 - 18:39

    apparently they don't line up, they just flash their Door Dash thing on the way out

    I dnt think so mate :) I think they have to queue and pay with doordash mastercard just like everyone else

    • AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 19:05

      I saw in another forum that the door dash people refuse to line up, or cut in line, but maybe it's different where they are from.

  • capslock on 10/08/2023 - 18:39

    Do you use discounted DoorDash gift cards?

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 10/08/2023 - 18:39
    +4

    As someone with two toddlers, my main weekly trip to Coles feels like a mini-holiday some weeks.

    • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2023 - 18:53

      I'm a bit like that too. I don't understand why parents do the supermarket shop instore with their kids or even make it a chaotic family event.

      • jjjaar on 10/08/2023 - 23:04
        +2

        They may have no other choice?

        • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2023 - 23:45

          OP is about another choice.

        • ssfps on 11/08/2023 - 04:25

          Supermarkets these days do click & collect or delivery, it barely costs more, and the cost is easily worth not dragging one or two toddlers around woolies for an hour.

          • jjjaar on 11/08/2023 - 07:29

            @ssfps: I personally love coles delivery, especially when it costs $2 mid week. But for some people is isn’t accessible at all.

            Oftentimes if you live in an apartment, they don’t handle deliveries well at all, so it literally may not be an option. Or even in a house, things get stolen if it’s left unattended. Surely you’d rather your groceries than nothing?

            And for a lot of orders, things aren’t available, in which case if you do click and collect and half your order is missing, you may as well still go in to get the missing items.

            As I said, I prefer it too, but sometimes people may have no other choice.

  • psyren89 on 10/08/2023 - 18:43
    +2

    The driver has to drive to Coles, walk in there and pick all the stuff off the shelf, order your meat from the butcher, then walk out of the store (apparently they don't line up, they just flash their Door Dash thing on the way out), then drive to my house.

    Nope. Either the store staff pack the order and the driver picks it up, or the driver is assigned a shop and deliver order where they go into the store, grab your items, check out and pay for it with a DoorDash issued card, then deliver it to you.

    • AustriaBargain on 10/08/2023 - 19:04

      I think for Coles Express maybe the staff get your order reader. But whenever I order from normal Coles I get messages from the driver asking what they should do if something is out of stock, they even phoned me once. I set substitutes manually now. Sometimes I even order something I know will be out of stock just because I know they will refund it if I set it to "refund" on the substitutions option, so it technically lowers the minimum order value for free delivery.

      It could just be the particular Coles near me has the driver do the picking of items. They spend ages in the store and maybe they are getting other people's orders at the same time, but they always drive straight to my house after.

      • psyren89 on 10/08/2023 - 19:49

        maybe they are getting other people's orders at the same time

        Yep, I was given a stacked shop and deliver order once.

      • coxjon on 10/08/2023 - 20:03

        coles express

        How do they deliver 55L of unleaded? :)

    • PissLUR on 10/08/2023 - 19:12
      -1

      No. that applies for Spudshed but not Coles.

  • Agarwal on 10/08/2023 - 19:18
    +1

    They get to keep all the flybuys points

    • myhotsti on 13/08/2023 - 21:56
      +1

      I get heaps of Doordash orders…if I notice one of the regular delivery people aren't scanning flybuys I'll message them and let them know that they should get a card. They should get something out of it, right?

      • psyren89 on 16/08/2023 - 19:27

        DD drivers are specifically forbidden from scanning their own Flybuys card.

  • brendanm on 10/08/2023 - 19:34
    -1

    I don't want weirdos handling my food.

    • randomusername2017 on 10/08/2023 - 20:18
      +1

      Lucky it magically appears on the supermarket shelf just as you need it…

      • brendanm on 10/08/2023 - 20:37

        Yeah not really the same.

        • coffeeinmyveins on 11/08/2023 - 08:57

          lol why not? Think about how many hands have touched your food before it got to the shelf, 100? what's wrong with 101?

          • brendanm on 11/08/2023 - 09:00
            +1

            @coffeeinmyveins: It's just some weirdo sitting my chicken in his hot car for 2 hours while eating my salt and vinegar chips.

          • samfisher5986 on 14/08/2023 - 11:05

            @coffeeinmyveins: There is a huge difference between an employee handling your food and a contractor who just signed up online without an interview.

            Even worse, lets say DoorDash tried to check they had good employees, people often just share their account anyway.

            So you could have George Pell picking your groceries and delivering it. ;)

            • wetsandwich on 16/08/2023 - 11:15

              @samfisher5986: Doordash actually does quite a stringent police check, I had a drunken incident 13 years ago that resulted in a court appearance and they declined me from delivering hamburgers on a bicycle due to that (even though it was dismissed in court). Yet I worked for Coles for years, they don't do any police checks.

  • Mokr on 10/08/2023 - 20:27
    +2

    I did it with uber

    The dude gave me coriander instead of celery.

    Got refund so don't care

  • coffeeinmyveins on 11/08/2023 - 08:58

    A lot of these services run on VC money, investments by large companies in the hopes that they become profitable eventually.

    It doesn't always work out. Look at MilkRun for example.

    They all hope to capture market share and then jack up the price (hello, Uber).

    There's also the data sharing that is going on with Coles. You will be amazed at the amount of data these companies collect and how useful it is to them.

    • AustriaBargain on 13/08/2023 - 16:36

      Plus drones and self driving cars could completely change their business model. If they already have market dominance by the time delivery drones become feasible then Uber will be sitting pretty.

  • ginormousgiraffe on 11/08/2023 - 09:31
    +1

    Door dash drivers are paid less than minimum wage is how they do it.

    • AustriaBargain on 13/08/2023 - 16:35

      Meh, if I drove to Coles then I'd be doing my own shopping for free!

    • psyren89 on 16/08/2023 - 19:30

      "Independent contractors", which means "less than minimum wage" doesn't even begin to cover it.
      No leave (obviously), no super, no worker's comp in case of injury (or any provided insurance, for that matter), no guaranteed work.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 13/08/2023 - 16:11

    Just placed a $200 order. Ready to be let down :)

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 13/08/2023 - 17:11

      Much to my surprise the fruit and veg was not terrible and almost expired. Meat had at least 2 days on it. So about the same service as going through comes delivery. No option for the multi item buys though. Would half consider again.

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