Amid ongoing reports of the difficult conditions faced by gig workers, aggregators are making moves to create more positive perceptions of the labor model. Instacart, for one, announced Thursday (March 10) the beginning of the rollout of a range of features meant to provide support to its in-store pickers.
Features announced include phone support through the Shopper app, enabling shoppers to speak with a representative in response to demand for such a helpline. Additionally, the company announced a safety toolkit, which includes alerts, emergency calling and incident reporting, as well as a navigation feature offering an interactive map of the store that indicates item locations.
“The products we build for shoppers are developed with the goal of improving their experience and bettering our platform as a whole,” said Instacart Vice President of Shopper and Fulfillment Product John Adams in the announcement. “The functionality we are introducing today will help keep shoppers safe on the platform and support them in every step of their shop, from the moment they accept an order until after it’s delivered to the customer.”
Additional features will be rolled out over the next four months. The initiative is structured around “four commitments,” each tied to a suite of products: commitments to offer “support while they shop and beyond,” to provide “ingredients to earn on their terms,” to create “a community built on best intent,” and to give “recognition and rewards for the best of the bunch.”
With the rise in food delivery occasioned by the pandemic, labor practices have come under greater scrutiny. In late March 2020, just weeks after many Americans began staying home, ordering groceries online in an effort to minimize contagion risk, Instacart workers planned a strike. The following month, the online grocery company announced a handful of wellness- and safety-focused initiatives.
Read more: Instacart Mandates Wellness Checks as It Seeks 250,000 More Hires
Additionally, Amazon is offering staff jobs to Whole Foods Market pickers previously hired as gig workers.
See more: Amazon Offers Grocery Gig Workers Whole Foods Staff Jobs
Soon, there could be federal intervention. At the end of 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent agency of the U.S. federal government overseeing labor practices, announced a call for opinions from employees, employers, unions and others regarding standards for independent contractor status. The move suggested that the Board may be interested in modifying current standards to make it easier for gig workers to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors.
Read more: Federal Regulator Launches Consultation to Reconsider Gig Workers Status
About one in 10 consumers shop from grocery aggregators like Instacart, according to data from PYMNTS’ study “What Consumers Expect From Their Grocery Shopping Experience,” created in collaboration with ACI Worldwide. The study, which drew from a census-balanced survey of more than 2,300 U.S. adults, found that just 11% of consumers buy groceries online using an aggregator that delivers the products the same day, and only 2% rank this channel as their most preferred grocery shopping method.
See more: Digital Features Can Help Grocers Win Over 43% of Shoppers
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