What is the trend in courier pay for on-demand delivery companies?

So all these delivery platforms usually start by paying couriers on a per-trip basis.

And that's why it has been trending down. Because at the end of the day, couriers care about how much money they make on a per-hour basis. So that's the benchmark that they use to look at how much they're making.

So if platforms can increase the efficiencies, the drops per hour, then they can afford to pay them and less on a per order basis because, in the end, they're making the same. So that's why it has been trending down.

Couriers are being paid per trip. If a courier is paid £3/trip and delivers efficiency is 2 drops per hour, he/she is going to be paid £6 per hour. That's a number couriers really look at.

They compare how much could I be making if I work at another job. Let’s say one year after that, delivery efficiency increases to three drops per hour, instead of two. So now the couriers make nine per hour. These gains do not translate into couriers’ costs. Deliveroo says: okay, now, instead of paying you £3 per trip, I'm going to pay you less so in the end, the courier is making the same amount of money.

Because there are more drops and they can be much more efficient. Usually, the gain in the efficiency, maybe 10 – 20% can translate to couriers’ earnings so that they're happier and they make more money on a per hour basis, but the biggest gains are to Deliveroo because they decide to decrease the number of pounds per trip.