AR Explained For The Newbies

Please allow me to take a moment to break down the system behind the Acceptance Rate statistic and how it is implemented for the new drivers that may not know the ins and outs of the process.

To do so, we'll need to walk through a typical order flow to get a decent understanding of just what is going on, so we'll begin there.

1) The Customer's Order

As the first step, our dear customer decides they want something but can't/can't be bothered to go retrieve it for themselves. This leads them to the phone and then to DoorDash.

Here, they scroll and poke for a while until everything looks pleasing. The total price is a little high, though. While this is a tad concerning, it's entirely reasonable that Monster Zero Sugar #4 should definitely stay in the cart and other avenues for savings should be considered.

This is where their eye meets the Tip entry box. And the Delivery Fee price. Now, they know (just like everyone has known for YEARS) that the Delivery Fee does not go to the driver. However, given that the total price is still above the comfort zone, and that the Delivery Fee cannot be manipulated, our dear Customer must adjust the Tip. Knowing the store is 5 miles from their home, it is decided that a $0.50 tip should be sufficient for the driver to deliver their goods (after all, the driver should always be thankful for ANY tip!).

Slightly more satisfied, our dear Customer finalized the order and sends it to DoorDash.

AT THIS POINT - the CUSTOMER knows that this is a bad offer

2) The DoorDash Algo Soup

Our dear Customer's order makes it way through the interwebs and to the DoorDash servers. Here it gets parsed, inspected and verified. The items are noted, as are the fees. And so is the Tip. The algo chugs along, decides this order is good to go and begins pushing it out to drivers in the area.

AT THIS POINT - both the CUSTOMER and DOORDASH knows this is a bad offer

3) The Final Mile

Our driver has been sitting at a restaurant that sometimes gives better-than-average offers for around 10 minutes now, patiently awaiting an offer. Hearing the phone go off, they grab it while hopes of making this hour worth it rise within them. They are greeted with the familiar DoorDash offer screen, the familiar map and pins, the familiar bare-bones offer details... and the familiar bad offer from a bad store with bad wait times that is 5 miles away.

Disgust starts brewing in their minds as they earnestly click the Decline button before even 5 seconds have elapsed on the offer timer. They are then greeted with the familiar Acceptance Rate screen where they can clearly see that refusing this bad offer from a bad store with bad wait times that is 5 miles away will lower their AR threshold to below Platinum levels. This has a few side effects: it removes their ability to dash when they can, it increases the number of bad offers they will receive (snowballing the problem) and it can prevent them from earning promo pay at certain times.

AT THIS POINT - the CUSTOMER, DOORDASH and the DRIVER all know that this is a bad offer

And sadly, this is where our tale must end. Even though ALL connected parties know that the offer is bad and should have never been allowed to proceed, here we are.

IT IS THE DRIVER'S FAULT THAT THE OFFER IS BAD!

This is where we leave it. The only one really harmed is the one at the end of the chain with no control over the matter.

I hope this essay helps spread the knowledge of the mystified Acceptance Rate to newbies everywhere. It's not as difficult to understand as it is easy to despise, so you can all rejoice in that at least.

Please tune in next week when we break down the Rolling Average!