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Getting food and groceries delivered to your door is a great benefit of living in this modern age. As bad as the pandemic was, we’ve all learned to be comfortable in our homes without sacrificing the luxuries we’re used to. Postmates was created as such a food delivery service, while Lyft recently implemented deliveries as an extra. So which is better? Should you opt for Postmates or Lyft?
Postmates is a dedicated delivery platform created for grocery deliveries. Lyft was designed as a taxi service, then added deliveries to help its drivers earn money during the pandemic. Delivery is a new service for Lyft, yet online reviews make it clear that people prefer Lyft over Postmates.
With the fact that Lyft is not a dedicated delivery service, whereas Postmates is, we have to compare apples with apples. We will compare Lyft’s delivery service with Postmates, then evaluate and compare the customer reviews they’re getting. We will also look at their drivers’ benefits since this often affects how well the drivers perform and how happy their customers are.
Postmates – Dedicated Delivery Service
Postmates was founded in 2011 with the purpose of creating quick commerce and delivery service to rival the giant in the marketplace, Amazon. With more than eleven years of experience, they have proven that they are a successful and efficient platform to use.
Postmates’ Credibility
One significant factor that adds to Postmates’ credibility is that it belongs to Uber. The biggest name in the ride share market, Uber’s association with Postmates has definite advantages for the delivery company. The fact that Uber also opted to make the service a dedicated platform with its own name boosts credibility even more since it’s now a specialist platform rather than an add-on service.
Postmates’ Rates
Postmates charges between approximately $2 and $10 for each delivery, depending on the merchant. They also charge a percentage-based service fee. This fee covers their admin and marketing costs. They also have other fees, including a “small cart fee” if your order total is lower than their minimum order amount.
What Do Postmates’ Drivers Say?
According to Glassdoor, Postmates has a 3.8-star rating (out of five). This is not terrible, and there’s a good mix of positive reviews in there with the negatives. Here are the key points:
- Compensation and Benefits is the element that scored the highest, with 3.9. Postmates’ workers apparently feel that the compensation and benefits package is the best part of working there.
- Only 47% of Postmates’ staff have a positive business outlook. Less than half of the company’s staff feel optimistic about the company. That is not a good sign at all.
- 67% of Postmates’ drivers said they would recommend it to a friend, which is good. It isn’t so bad that they wouldn’t want their friends to work for Postmates.
What Do Postmates’ Customers Say?
Before going into this part, it’s crucial to mention that customers usually write reviews when they are extremely unhappy. It’s unfortunate that happy customers hardly ever put in the effort to write a review. With that in mind, don’t assume that everyone is unhappy with Postmates. But these reviews should at least give us an indication of a “worst-case” scenario.
Trustpilot has a whopping 96% “Bad” rating for Postmates based on 2,974 reviews. The second-highest rating, with 2%, is “Poor.” The last 2% is split between “Excellent,” “Great,” and “Average.”
The most common complaint is drivers missing addresses, not communicating on chat or phone calls, then marking the order as “undeliverable.” There’s also a lot of frustration about the fact that you cannot call Postmates to complain or get a refund.
Despite this, there are a few positive reviews as well, explicitly praising specific delivery drivers for their excellent service. Many of the problems arise from the drivers more than the company, though Postmates may have to put more effort into screening their driver applicants.
Lyft – Ride sharing Service Now Offers Deliveries
Lyft had made a name for itself as an Uber competitor, specializing in its ride-sharing service. It is more affordable than Uber, and the company also tried to eliminate many of the problems and controversies surrounding Uber when it launched in June 2012. Despite their successful ride-sharing service, they only launched a delivery side in 2021 to help their drivers earn more money.
This means that Lyft’s delivery service doesn’t have the same mass of online feedback and reviews that Postmates has, making any comparison at this stage a bit uneven. But we can compare based on the information we have available.
Lyft’s Credibility
Lyft has established a broad and loyal client base for itself. Many people prefer using Lyft over any of their competitors. Though Postmates gained credibility by not using the Uber name, Lyft gained credibility by doing the exact opposite, and it’s working for them to some extent. Customers who’ve been using Lyft for rides are more likely to use Lyft’s delivery service as well.
Another factor is that Lyft’s drivers usually offer both services – ride-sharing and deliveries. The qualifying criteria are precisely the same, eliminating some of the problems we’ve seen with Postmates.
Lyft’s Rates
Lyft offers no clear indication of how much they charge for delivery. That’s because Lyft has a very advanced and complex rate calculation system that factors in the total distance that the driver has to travel and discounts the rates if the driver can do two deliveries on the same route. This makes it a bit unpredictable, which is terrible, but at the same time, it could save you a lot of money.
What Do Lyft’s Drivers Say?
In the same Glassdoor review, Lyft’s drivers generally claim higher job satisfaction than Postmates’ drivers. The key factors are:
- Lyft drivers give a 3.8 rating to compensation and benefits, compared to Postmates’ 3.9. So Lyft’s drivers are generally slightly less satisfied with their compensation and benefits.
- Despite this fact, Lyft scores slightly higher than Postmates in just about every other area, including Work / Life Balance and satisfaction with senior management.
- There’s a sizeable difference when it comes to company culture and respect for the CEO, with Lyft scoring much higher than Postmates in both aspects, as well as a positive business outlook.
What Do Lyft’s Customers Say?
There is no separate review system for Lyft deliveries; all Lyft services are included on one page on Trustpilot. But since the same drivers offer both services, this should still give us a good indication.
40% of Lyft’s reviews on Trustpilot are “Bad.” This is much better than Postmates’ 96%. That leaves 18% that’s split between the three middle rating levels, and an impressive 42% of reviews labeled Lyft as “Excellent.” This is very encouraging and adds even more to Lyft’s credibility.
Interestingly, many of the “Bad” reviews are not from customers but from people attempting to register as drivers, and it seems that Lyft might have some work to do to streamline this process. But all indications are that once you are finally registered as a Lyft driver, it’s not a bad experience at all.
Conclusion
Comparing Postmates and Lyft is difficult because the two companies differ so much in their approaches. On average, though, it seems that both Postmates’ staff and customers are relatively dissatisfied with them. Lyft, on the other hand, is viewed in a far more positive light on both levels. It seems their approach works: Look at the competition and fix what they’re doing wrong.
