Gig worker demand set to rise 40% during festive season peak

The demand for gig delivery riders by quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto may grow 40% on peak-demand days this festive season when the overall home delivery ecosystem is expected to employ 10-12 lakh additional gig riders, industry executives told ET.

Ecommerce and food delivery platforms are expected to bring about 20% more gig riders on board during the peak festive period, they said.

However, while quick commerce currently employs about 3-4 lakh riders, the two older industries have a much larger base of 40-50 lakh gig riders, with about two-thirds of them working in the ecommerce ecosystem, said Balasubramanian Anantha Narayanan, senior vice president at manpower solutions firm TeamLease.


Though quick commerce still represents a small share of overall demand, that share is rapidly increasing, he told ET.

Part of the increase in demand is expected to be satiated by riders who will take up gig work temporarily during the festive period, executives said.

“We often see people take up work during festivals attracted by the bonuses… Some workers like air-conditioning technicians – who don’t have as much work during the winter season – also join the workforce during the festive season,” a senior executive at a quick commerce firm said on condition of anonymity. “Some of the demand will also be fulfilled by new workers from surrounding villages who might have relatives or friends already working as delivery partners who tell them about increased earnings during festive season,” the executive said.

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Festive bumper

Delivery workers are looking forward to a jump in their earnings in the upcoming festive season, buoyed by increased demand and peak hour bonuses.

Riders for quick-commerce platforms in metros like Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad earn between Rs 20 to Rs 30 per order, depending on the size of the order and the distance travelled, they told ET.

Besides, they get surge benefits during peak demand as well as incentives on completing a set number of orders or working hours on top of the per-order earnings. Referring new recruits also earns them financial incentives in peak season.

A delivery worker with Swiggy Instamart in Hyderabad said he received a surge benefit of Rs 15 per order on top of the per-order earnings during peak hours recently. A delivery worker for Blinkit in Delhi said he was getting a surge benefit of Rs 13 per order during peak hours on recent festive days.

Delivery workers can also earn incentives on crossing a certain number of orders or working for a certain number of hours.

The Instamart worker mentioned above made Rs 1,200 from 22 orders recently, which comes up to Rs 54 per order, while the Blinkit worker in Delhi earned Rs 1,800 from 32 deliveries made on Rakhi festival on Monday, which translates to Rs 56 per order.

However, unlocking such benefits can take “unrealistic and back-breaking” work involving 12–14-hour shifts, delivery workers said.

“The companies should be paying Rs 40-50 per order including surge benefit during peak festive hours even without the extra incentives,” a Delhi-based delivery worker for Instamart said. “The extra incentive targets are often unrealistic and the platforms can reduce the per-order surge benefit because there is an increase in workers coming in from neighbouring states.”

Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

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Platforms need to provide workers with minimum business guarantees, higher rates and other benefits, said Shaik Salauddin, president of Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers.

“When everyone is home with their family during the festive season, the delivery worker is out there on the roads. The platforms should understand this and provide better benefits during this period,” he said.

As the line between quick commerce firms and ecommerce firms blurs in terms of merchandise and price, the former are likely to benefit from the festive period starting September, which is when ecommerce firms see the largest share of their yearly sales taking place.

Meanwhile, ecommerce major Flipkart is set to shift some of its ecommerce workforce to run its quick commerce operation Flipkart Minutes, which is slated to be launched during its Big Billion Day sale in October.