Top tips for riders: The best times and areas to maximise deliveries 

When starting as a delivery rider there can be a lot to get up to speed with, whether that is navigating new roads, getting used to a new vehicle, or even being in an entirely new city! However, we understand that riders embarking on their first shift still want to come home with as much cash as possible, so this should provide some useful tips regarding what are the best areas and times to ride.  

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#1 Pick the busiest spots

#2 Primetime is dinner time 

#3 Utilise the conditions 

#4 What about weekends and holidays? 

#5 Research on the go 

#6 Sometimes, just enjoy the ride 

#1 Pick the busiest spots

Picking the right location is essential to having a profitable day. Three locations usually bring the most deliveries, CBDs, popular residential areas, and locations with a large density of restaurants and shops. 

CBDs will see high volumes of both residents and workers ordering deliveries throughout the day, with largely populated suburbs and residential areas seeing similar trends, particularly with more consumers consistently working from home. 

Places with high volumes of restaurants and retailers might be in these same locations, however in large cities including London, Sydney, and New York, riders will find there are a variety of spots across the city which are ripe with possible pick-ups. Make sure you check where your business’s shops are, if you work for Deliveroo for example, and see a lot of restaurants outside of the centre of town, go for it. 

Try not to travel kilometers at a time for single deliveries, instead target a specific, accessible area. This will help you collect more consistent deliveries, and reap the rewards. 

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#2 Primetime is dinner time 

Timing is also a very important factor to consider when embarking on a ride, delivering when customers are asleep or busy at work will result in a very quiet shift!

Lunch and dinner-time tend to be the busiest periods for food & drink deliveries, specifically between 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-21:00. If you don’t mind a late night, demand for deliveries often remains high until midnight, so a 7-hour shift between 17:00 and 24:00 should prove to be fruitful. 

#3 Utilise the conditions 

If it’s tipping it down with rain, or colder than the weatherman predicted, unsurprisingly consumers are less likely to leave their house. Therefore, days with unpleasant weather tend to be a great time to get on your bike. We understand that riding around in the rain or cold might be the last thing you want to do, that's why we designed our bikes to tackle roads in any conditions, making sure you can utilize the best days to make a buck!

Safety is a priority for us, watch our winter safety video below:
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#4 What about weekends and holidays? 

Specific days where celebrations are ripe, whether this is a Saturday night or during the holiday season, boost demand for delivery as families and friends celebrate together. Retailers will tell you that the holiday season is the most profitable time of the year, so if you have the time these are great days to hit the road!

#5 Research on the go 

Customer demands change daily, and although this blog provides a good overview of how to utilise the right times and places, some days might be very different from the norm. Make sure you keep your phone on you, delivery companies often offer tools such as heatmaps that show where the busiest areas are, or which restaurants are offering the highest delivery fees. Our bikes have a USB charger built into the bike, so you don’t have to worry about doing a bit of extra research. 

#6 Sometimes, just enjoy the ride 

We appreciate that maximising deliveries is your priority, however many delivery riders are cycling fans at heart and occasionally might want a bit of pleasure from their shift. Our bikes are designed to make you, the rider, feel good on the road, by making delivery as safe, reliable, and enjoyable as possible. So if you have a favourite part of town, or particularly enjoy one route, feel free to make it your own, you might even find that it boosts your productivity. 

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If you have any questions regarding our electric bikes, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of our experts in store or on the Zoomo website.

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