I Earned $6.8k In 3 Years As A GrabFood Walker (Review)

Last updated on March 2nd, 2022

I signed up to be GrabFood walker, ever since they started their operations in May 2018. The thought of earning money by just walking was something that enticed me to try out this job as a side hustle.

Previously, I used to work as an UberEats walker before they ceased operations in Singapore.

If you are interested in trying out as a GrabFood walker, here is my experience earning $6.8k in the span of 3 years on the platform.

GrabFood walker review

Delivering food as a GrabFood walker is a flexible way to earn money while exercising. However, there will be a limit to how many jobs you can complete, as completing deliveries on foot can be very physically demanding.

Here is a further look to see if being a GrabFood walker is suitable for you:

How do I sign up as a GrabFood walker?

You will need to sign up on the Grab driver portal and indicate your interest to be a GrabFood walker. Once your application is successful, you will need to visit Grab’s office at Sin Ming Road to continue the onboarding process.

To start the signup process, you will need to visit Grab’s portal to sign up to be a GrabFood walker.

As a walker, you will need to provide 2 documents:

1. Your NRIC
2. A copy of a bank statement with your account number

Once your application is approved, you will need to visit Grab’s office at Sin Ming Road to collect your equipment.

I’m not too sure how long it will take to get approved now, but my application was approved in a few days.

You will need to pay for the GrabFood equipment that you receive, such as:

• Sling bag (x1)
• Halal bag (x1)
• Long sleeve T-shirt (x2)

After you have successfully onboarded, you are able to go online and start delivering orders!

Where can I work as a GrabFood walker?

You are able to work in any location in Singapore, and all you need to do is to go online on the GrabFood app.

You will be able to start receiving orders, and you can see the rate you’ll be paid for the job.

If you want to earn additional payouts per job completed, you may need to work at specific areas.

How much can a GrabFood walker earn?

You can expect to earn between $4 – $5.10 as the base rate as a GrabFood walker. You will also be able to earn more per job through incentives such as Quest or Zone Boosts.

I completed 546 jobs as a walker between Jan 2020 and May 2021. During this period, the base rate that I earned ranged between $4 and $5.10, with an average base rate of $4.45.

You may also be able to receive additional incentives, depending on:

• The number of jobs you complete
• The location you’re working at

Here are the 3 main ways that you will get paid:

1. Base rate
2. Quest
3. Zone Boost

#1 Base rate

When you receive an order from GrabFood, you can view the net earnings you will receive from that job.

This is based on the distance that GrabFood calculates between the GrabFood merchant and the delivery destination.

You may want to note that you will not be paid the distance that you travel from your current location to the merchant!

I do find that the distances that Grab calculates varies very widely from job to job.

Sometimes, I might be paid more for a job that has a shorter distance compared to a job that has a longer distance.

The lowest base rate I received is $4. This rate is usually for jobs where the distances are rather short.

For jobs with longer distances, they will usually range between $4 – $5.

Previously, when GrabFood just started, I was able to receive a base rate of $6.

It dropped to a base rate of $5, before moving to the current fee structure.

#2 Quest

Another way that you could earn extra bonuses is by completing a number of jobs in your ‘Quest‘.

You will be able to earn bonuses for completing milestones. In this case, I would need to complete 35 jobs to receive a $30 incentive.

However, I would also need to fulfil certain criteria:

1. Acceptance rate has to be ≥ 90%
2. Cancellation rate has to be ≤ 10%

Your acceptance rate will decrease if you choose to reject a job. Your cancellation rate will decrease if you choose to cancel the job after you have accepted it.

Previously, the Quest incentive was much lower, where I only needed to do 10+ jobs before I could receive a payout.

Now that the number of jobs you require to do is much higher, it may no longer be worth it to complete the Quests.

#3 Zone Boost

Another way that you can earn extra incentives are through Zone Boosts.

Here are some criteria that you’ll need to use a Zone Boost:

1. You must accept the job when you are in a specific region
2. The job has to be accepted within the specified time period

In most cases as a walker, the Zone Boosts are awarded if you complete jobs in the Downtown region at these timings:

• 1100 – 1500
• 1700 – 2100

These are usually the peak periods in the Downtown area.

There are some limitations to the Zone Boost

Grab will award you $0.50 per job that you earn. However, you will need to complete at least 4 jobs each day to be able to receive this extra incentive.

Moreover, you can only earn these Zone Boosts if you are completing jobs in the Downtown area.

If you are completing jobs in other areas, you will be unable to receive this incentive!

In this scenario, the only incentives you can earn are the Quest incentives.

You may receive some tips too

Some customers may give you tips when you deliver the food to them.

While this is always good to have, you should not be expecting to get tips all the time!

There may be other customers who give you cold drinks, especially after they hear that you’re a walker!

What are the distances that I need to travel for each GrabFood walker job?

You can be expected to cover distances between 500m to 2km for each job that you are assigned as a GrabFood walker. You will also need to factor in the distance you need to cover when travelling from your current location to the GrabFood merchant.

Based on the same 546 jobs which I completed, the distances that I covered ranged between 500m and 2km, with an average of 1.02km per job.

However, this really depends on the jobs that you will be assigned by Grab. Depending on the demand and supply, you may still get assigned jobs that have really long distances!

It can be really tiring and demoralising to receive a long trip, especially after you have completed a few jobs beforehand.

As such, you may want to be strategic about maximising your acceptance and cancellation rates if you want to achieve the Quest incentive.

What’s the difference between a GrabFood walker and a cyclist?

A GrabFood walker has limited regions that they can work in to earn the Zone Boost incentive, and they can only earn them in a specific period of time. Meanwhile, GrabFood cyclists can earn the Zone Boost incentive in more regions, and over longer periods of time.

In most cases, a GrabFood cyclist will earn more than a GrabFood walker. This is because:

• You can receive Zone Boost incentives in more areas (compared to just Downtown for walkers)
• You can earn the Zone Boost incentives over longer periods of time (compared to the 1100 – 1500 and 1700 – 2100 blocks for a walker)
• Your Quest incentives may be higher after completing a certain number of jobs

In terms of distances, you may be assigned to complete deliveries with longer distances as a cyclist. However, I do get some jobs with long distances as a walker too!

One thing that I really enjoy about being a GrabFood walker is the convenience of not having to find a parking space. For bicycles or motorbikes, you will need to find a place to park your vehicle before you can deliver your food.

Meanwhile, as a walker, I can immediately deliver the food immediately! This helps to save quite a bit of time.

As such, it really depends on whether you’re more comfortable delivering on foot or via a bicycle.

Can I use a bicycle as a GrabFood walker?

You are able to use a bicycle to deliver as a GrabFood walker. However, you may be losing out on potential earnings. You will be able to earn more incentives by completing jobs as a cyclist, compared to a walker.

If you intend to cycle, you should definitely apply to GrabFood as a cyclist. This is because you will potentially earn more per trip through the higher incentives offered.

Are there any tips if I want to be a GrabFood walker?

Here are some tips I have if you want to be a GrabFood walker:

1. Try to avoid places where there are many shopping malls
2. Try to avoid places with office buildings and condominiums
3. If you want to achieve the Quest incentive, play around with the acceptance and cancellation rates
4. Always be prepared by bringing a water bottle, towel and raincoat
5. Bring something along to do while you face any delays in the delivery

GrabFood pays you by the number of jobs that you complete. As such, you will want to maximise your time so that you can complete as many jobs as possible.

#1 Try to avoid places where there are many shopping malls

I prefer not to complete deliveries in areas where there are many shopping malls. I do not like to go online when I’m near large malls like Yishun’s NorthPoint City.

This is because you waste a lot of time finding the GrabFood merchant, especially if the mall is really huge!

Furthermore, you may waste more time when you need to check in via SafeEntry into the mall!

I prefer doing jobs in the neighbourhood, where I pick up my deliveries from hawker centres or neighbourhood eateries.

#2 Try to avoid places with office buildings and condominiums

If you want to save even more time, you should try to avoid places where you will need to deliver to office buildings and condominiums.

Most of these buildings will have some form of security, which you will need to register and may take up a lot of time!

Moreover, there are some condominiums where the blocks are rather far apart from each other. This means that you’ll have to walk quite a distance to deliver to those blocks.

As such, I would prefer to deliver food to HDB estates or landed properties. I do not need to go through any security, and I can gauge the distance I need to complete immediately.

This helps me to save more time, ultimately allowing me to complete even more jobs.

#3 If you want to achieve the Quest incentive, play around with the acceptance and cancellation rates

If you are looking to achieve the Quest incentive, then you may be very reluctant to reject or cancel a job that has a long distance.

However, Grab does give you some leeway on rejecting or cancelling jobs.

If you calculate the minimum acceptance and cancellation rates that you need to hit, you can roughly determine how many jobs you can reject and cancel.

If you accept a job but cancel it, your acceptance rate will actually increase!

However, your cancellation rate will increase as well.

Grab may assign you to complete ridiculous jobs. As such, you’ll need to play your cards right to reject these jobs, yet you can hit the required rates for the Quest incentive.

#4 Always be prepared by bringing a water bottle, towel and raincoat

When you are moving about as a GrabFood walker, you are the most vulnerable to any changes in the weather.

I believe that you should have these 3 pieces of equipment wherever you go:

• Water bottle
• Towel
• Raincoat

The worst case scenarios will usually occur when it is raining. If you do not bring a raincoat, you may get really wet from the rain!

As such, you should always try to be prepared for anything that’s unexpected.

#5 Bring something along to do while you face any delays in the delivery

While you’re doing your deliveries, you may experience some delays here and there. Some examples include:

1. The merchant has not finished preparing your order even after you arrive
2. The customer may not be answering their door to receive their food

When you are waiting, you can try to bring something along to do. This can include listening to a podcast, or reading a book.

In this way, you are able to maximise your time while waiting out these delays!

Conclusion

I believe that being a GrabFood walker has many great perks. The best part is that you’re getting paid to exercise!

However, I am only doing this as a part time job, and I do not intend to make a full-time income from it.

This is because there is a physical limit to how many jobs you can do a day. While the pay can be really attractive, you will become rather tired over time!

There was one day where I walked 40,000 steps and covered a distance of 33km in a day. I completed 20 jobs and earned a total of $146.

However, I fell sick the next day as it was just too physically draining for me. While you can earn quite a good sum of money when doing GrabFood, you are still trading your time for money.

If you fall sick the next day and can’t work, you would lose your source of income for that day!

I really like being a GrabFood walker due to its flexibility. I can go online at anytime, and I may be able to receive jobs. With this flexibility, it has helped me on my journey to have $100k in savings.

Being a walker will be a great stop-gap job while you are unemployed and searching for a job.

However, due to its physical demands, I would not recommend doing it as your full-time job!

If you are looking for alternative ways of making money, why not consider writing articles and making money from them?

👉🏻 Referral Deals

If you are interested in signing up for any of the products mentioned above, you can check them out below!

GrabFood Referral (Get $150 – $250 after completing 80 jobs in 2 weeks)

If you are interested in signing up to be a GrabFood Driver, you will be able to earn between $150 – $250 after completing 80 jobs in your first 2 weeks.

Here are the rewards that you’ll receive:

Type	Bonus
Motorbike	$250
Bicycle / PAB	$150
Bonus	Extra $2 for every completed job in the first 2 weeks

Unfortunately, this bonus does not apply if you are looking to sign up as a GrabFood walker!

I will need to have your contact details to sign you up for this referral deal, so please contact me if you are interested!

You can find out more about this referral program on GrabFood’s website.

Are you passionate about personal finance and want to earn some flexible income?