Are low DoorDash orders a sign of a looming recession? A DoorDash driver seems to think so. She’s ringing the alarm after noticing a sharp decline in food delivery orders.
Fears of a potential recession loom following a weak July job report and an increase in the unemployment rate to 4.3%. And it’s not just economists sounding the alarm.
Regular people are noticing worrying signs in their daily lives. Among them is a DoorDash driver who recently went viral on TikTok. She says she noticed a decline in food delivery orders.
TikTok user Ren (@_ren_rose) posted the video on Aug. 2. In it, Ren warns about what she believes are signs that the country is on the “verge of a recession.”
“When I tell you that we are on the verge of a recession,” Ren begins in her TikTok. “The other day, I thought that I would do DoorDash to make some extra money, and when I tell you there was no orders coming in. I literally sat there for hours. And maybe one order would come in every hour, and it would always be a low-pay order.”
This experience is completely different from Ren’s time as a DoorDash driver in 2020 when she was in grad school. Back then, Ren says, “I literally lived off of DoorDash. I paid my bills with DoorDash, everything with DoorDash, and I would decline orders after orders because I knew a higher pay order would come in right afterwards.”
“People literally are not ordering DoorDash. Like, people cannot afford to order DoorDash in this economy,” she remarks.
Her attempts to switch to Uber Eats yielded similar results, suggesting the issue isn’t limited to a single platform. Ren also points to recent news about McDonald’s having a drop in sales and housing prices as additional warning signs.
@_ren_rose Sh*t is getting real. #recession #recession2024 #economy ♬ original sound – Ren
DoorDash customers admit to cutting back
The video has since gone viral, accumulating over 356,600 views. Many users claimed they’ve been cutting back on food delivery services due to rising costs.
One commenter wrote, “I used to be an avid DoorDash customer, but with how expensive food is in general, I am in no condition to be eating out as much.”
“I don’t even eat out anymore, I just cook everything at home, it’s healthier and man DoorDash up charges so much, got chipotle once and it was like $40 for a bowl with guacamole and queso,” a second added.
“Ordering from [Uber Eats] or [DoorDash] is so expensive! I almost ordered the other day…for my 15.00 meal, it would be damn near 50.00,” a third commenter said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ren via email as well as to DoorDash and Uber Eats via press email for comment.
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