With services like Uber, DoorDash, Instacart etc, how do the apps give you orders? - eviltoast

Lame title but let me explain,

I had Uber eats and was a driver, and I didn’t really like it but at the same time I had applied for Instacart and I’m in the process of signing up for that.

I live in a small town off the #1 in Canada and it takes about 25-30 minutes to get into the city on a good day. My town is also full of elderly, and considering people have to travel so much to get into the city, they make a day out of travelling down there.

I want to advertise the fact that I am an Instacart delivery person who is willing to go into the city to pick up groceries, prescriptions, whatever it may be. So my question is: does Instacart create batches for drivers to pick up in proximity to the store, or proximity to the person?

In other terms, will I need to actually be on the road near these stores for a chance to pick them up? Or can I stay in my home, keep the app running, and check every few minutes to see if anyone from my town requested something?

  • Icedrous@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    11 months ago

    Uber Eats was like that too, and I just worked for them a few weeks ago

    So theoretically, if I want to help out my community, I’d have to sit in parking lots at a store?

    • Shoh@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      From my admittedly limited understanding if you wanted to help the community via Instacart and the alternatives, yes. You’ll get the occasional order while driving to a hotspot, but most of your time will be the spent the same way as it was with UberEats. Sitting in parking lots waiting for an order to pop-up.

      If you’re not hurting for money, and you’re just looking to help I’ll always recommend reaching out to some of the local volunteer groups in your area. In my local area they’re almost always hurting for volunteers, and they’re always thankful when someone shows up