Minute Made?

By the time I am done writing this article, you can be assured that households across India would be receiving groceries at their doorsteps. Scratch that. By the time I finished writing that last sentence, these deliveries would be made. The pandemic has given a new lease of life for all online grocery delivery apps given the numerous lockdowns and fear of contracting COVID-19. Costs, delivery times, discounts and range of outlets were the key differentiators between the numerous apps that flooded the market.

However, in the last few months, we saw an implosion of ads in the paper and digital media where these grocery apps promised to deliver your daily needs in under 30 minutes. That did not last long. Apps decided that they needed to one-up each other by promising extremely low delivery times. Zepto, one of the latest entrants to the online grocery market, posed a challenge to its competitors by promising 10-minute deliveries no matter what the size of the order was.

Soon, every corner of the internet were praising these apps on sticking to their promised delivery times. Be it a packet of chips or a horde of vegetables, it did not matter. Once the initial hype cleared, I started to wonder whether 10-minute grocery deliveries were actually a legitimate customer need when we are still unable to ensure appropriate medical help in the same time.

I came across a tweet where a customer about how he ordered nachos on Zepto. He also went on to mention that he ordered multiple flavours of nachos to 'test' whether they can actually deliver within 10 minutes. The order was fulfilled in the promised time, but also revealed that the delivery executive had to visit multiple dark stores (mini-warehouses meant for groceries located close to the customers) to fulfill the order.

This was just one of numerous such social media posts from customers that promoted these brands or lambasted their service.

What we may be witnessing is the start of a process of desensitization towards these delivery executives who are at the end of the day, hard-working fellow humans. The pressure that these executives face on a minute-by-minute basis is so intense that they barely have time to indulge in simple activities that we, as privileged customers, take for granted. The opportunity to take a breather, talk to family or friends or even eat peacefully, are things they are rarely afforded time for if they are to meet their daily incentives.

Most of these executives have to resort to speeding in roads that are filled with potholes and traffic is almost at a standstill. The danger that they put themselves under is highlighted through a World Bank report that found that in 2021, India had deaths on roads every 4 minutes.

The entire process of an executive receiving an order, to getting it packed at a dark room and delivering is so delicately poised that even a 2-3 minute delay can result in an order being delayed. In such cases, the executive ends up marking an order as delivered within the 10-minute mark even before they have arrived at the destination. Such orders end up seeing the executives being penalized heavily. They are criticized if the quality of the items are not up to the mark.

Humans generally do not react well to criticism, especially when it is given in an uncivilized manner or when the circumstances were against us. A heated call with our teams or peers, a fight at home or even an unexpected development can put us off for days together. These executives face a barrage of criticism multiple times on a daily basis and have to keep their wits about them in the fear that the customers would rate them badly on the app.

To further add to their woes, most of these apps offer free delivery regardless of the size of the order. The challenges these executives face in apartment complexes is unique. Some resident welfare associations at societies have not allowed the use of lifts for delivery executives which would mean that they would need to use the stairs to deliver an order.

The convenience, benefits on costs and time and sheer range of products on offer, have probably made customers forget about the crucial component in this chain, the executive.

There are no shortage of stories on how delivery executives have been both verbally and physically abused (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/bengaluru-zomato-delivery-executive-files-plaint-cops-book-case-against-techie/articleshow/81517458.cms)

This has reached such an extent that both customers and executives start referring to themselves by the service they are representing and not their actual names. Dale Carnegie had once quoted “A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” We as humans like to be addressed by our names which double up as our identities.

Swiggy hammered this point home through a thoughtful film

Humans are highly social animals by nature. Cooperation has been and will be a key tool in ensuring our survival and help maintain balance in society. Contrary to the belief that a solitary life would suit us in these modern times, it is when we are truly cooperative with people and acknowledge/recognize their presence even in the simplest of ways, that we can bring balance and happiness to everybody.

I'd like to leave you with a story that prompted me to write about it. I had ordered groceries through Swiggy and it was delivered in the promised time of 30 minutes. I usually tip the executives by cash or transfer it to their accounts directly. In this case, the executive did not have time to even receive the cash from me as he had to rush to his next order which was due to be delivered in 5 minutes. The thought that a person did not have time to receive a well-deserved tip made me think about the extent to which this convenience has affected us morally. The fact that we have dehumanized these human-driven services speaks volumes on our progress as a species and the world we leave to our children.