Gig economy gets a shot in the arm as Coles' deal with Uber Eats sees drivers pick-and-pack groceries for home delivery - days after MilkRun's sudden collapse
One of Australia's supermarket giants has partnered with the country's largest delivery service in a boost for the gig economy after the sudden collapse of MilkRun.
More than 500 Coles supermarkets nationwide will be placed onto Uber Eats in the near future to deliver groceries to customers within an hour, with the first 40 stores in Melbourne placed on the Uber Eats app on Thursday.
The grocery home delivery industry was given a reality check on Tuesday after start-up MilkRun announced it would be shutting its doors after business on Friday.
Prior to the deal, Coles relied on its own delivery staff and Uber Eats' delivery rival, DoorDash, to deliver groceries to customers.
However, delivery drivers - who usually earn less than minimum wage - for Uber Eats will have to pick-and-pack the orders from Coles.
Uber Eats' Regional General Manager of Retail, Lucas Groenveld, said the company is 'excited' to be partnering with Coles.
'Uber Eats' goal is to meet customers' growing desire to get (almost) anything they need delivered on-demand.
'This expansion will supercharge the wide variety of groceries available on the app.'
The supermarket saw an 'overwhelming' increase in demand for delivery orders over the past two years, and invested in new vans and staff prior to the partnership.
'This partnership will allow Coles to service these last minute grocery needs while continuing to build capacity for Click&Collect and next day Coles Online deliveries,' a Coles spokesperson said.
'Coles team members are not impacted by this partnership and there is a clear distinction between the roles of Coles team members and third-party courier pickers.'
Coles members' jobs will be secured by the decision to make Uber Eats delivery riders to find the items in an order, package them and then deliver to the customer.
'Each delivery placed with Coles through Uber Eats will be packed and delivered by a delivery person using the Uber Eats platform,' a statement from Coles reads.
'"Pack and Deliver" will allow delivery people to communicate with customers directly in-app so that any out-of-stock items are replaced by an item of their choice.'
Contract workers, meanwhile, have highlighted the negative aspects of the gig-economy.
The Tough Gig report from the McKell Institute Queensland revealed that low pay was a major concern for 76 per cent of gig workers, while another issue was account deactivation.
'At least 45 per cent of workers in the gig economy reported earning less than minimum wage. If this finding is reflected across the gig economy, 90,000-112,000 Australian workers are earning less than minimum wage,' the report reads.
Just over 80 per cent of all responders in the report revealed that they depend on the money they earn from either rideshare, food delivery or parcel delivery.
Around 40 per cent of workers reported having to work more than 40 hours per week (overtime), even though gig workers don't receive overtime rights, to make enough money to pay bills.