[TusharK]

Food delivery and e-commerce apps have transformed our lives. Now, a warm and sumptuous meal is just a few taps away. But it’s the hardworking delivery partners, who make sure our orders reach us swiftly.



Borzo, a global delivery service that enables intra-city delivery for business, analyzed their data and has come up with the top 15 most popular bikes and scooters that delivery riders used in 2023.

According to the data, the delivery rider’s top 2-wheeler brands of choice were Hero (32%), Honda (30.6%) and TVS (14.7%). Bajaj (12.9%) and Suzuki (7.2%) trail as the fourth and fifth most popular 2-wheeler brands. Even though Yamaha has comparatively more expensive offerings, 2.6% of delivery partners use older models of Yamaha.

Among electric 2-wheelers, TVS tops the list with 41.6%, followed by Yulu with 32%, while 10.5% of riders preferred using Ather. Ola and Gogoro were fourth and fifth with 12% and 9% respectively.

The five most popular bikes among delivery riders were Hero Splendor, Hero Passion, Honda Shine, Bajaj Platina and Bajaj Pulsar, whereas, among scooters, the most popular models are Honda Activa, Suzuki Access, TVS Jupiter and Honda Dio.

The data also reveals that more than 50% of delivery riders were operating on newer bikes and scooters (manufactured after 2020). Only 4.6% of the riders were using pre-2010 models, while 32.5% of riders were using bikes and scooters manufactured between 2015 and 2020.

When it comes to engine size, delivery riders prefer to have 100-125cc powered bikes and scooters, although few of them do use 150cc bikes.

Top 5 most popular Petrol Bike brands:

• Hero - 32%
• Honda - 30.6%
• TVS - 14.7%
• Bajaj - 12.9%
• Suzuki - 7.2%

Top 5 most popular Electric Bike brands:

• TVS - 41.6%
• Yulu - 32%
• Ather - 10.5%
• Ola - 12%
• Gogoro - 3.9%

Top 15 Most Popular Bikes and Scooter models

:

• Hero Splendor - 19.5%
• Honda Activa - 17.1%
• Suzuki Access - 5.4%
• Hero Passion - 5.1%
• TVS Jupiter - 5.1%
• Honda Shine - 4.7%
• Bajaj Platina - 3.7%
• Bajaj Pulsar - 3.7%
• Electric - 2.7%
• Bajaj CT - 2.5%
• Honda Dio - 2.3%
• Honda SP - 2.1%
• Honda Unicorn - 1.9%
• TVS Radeon - 1.7%
• TVS Apache - 1.3%

The Manufacturing year of the bikes:

• Before 2005 - 1.4%
• 2005-2010 - 3.2%
• 2010-2015 - 11.9%
• 2015-2020 - 32.5%
• After 2020 - 51%

[ExplorerXIII]

Surprised to see Bajaj on the fourth spot among manufactures in delivery segment. In costal areas of Kerala, Baja CT and Platina is the staple of fishermen, rarely is another brand seen in this sector.

[nova.19_exe]

Where's the TVS Raider at? I see a lotta delivery guys riding that as well? Isn't that also a good selling bike considering TVS has 14.7%?

[anjan_c2007]

The data for pre 2010 (pre- 2005 and 2005-2010) two wheelers add up to 4.6%. These happen to be in the 15 year plus or soon would be 15 year-plus categories that either are or would have to be re-registered in non-NCR locations or scrapped if in the NCR.

Hence there can be an e-commerce delivery rider lined up sometime at some RTO perhaps wearing shirt/ jacket with platform logo, waiting to re-register his two wheeler.

[arnav17]

Originally Posted by TusharK

• Hero Splendor - 19.5%
• Honda Activa - 17.1%
• Suzuki Access - 5.4%

From what I hear from a Dominos delivery partner, they are slowly switching from Splendor to Activa and Dio. Apparently Splendor gives them horrible mileage and isn't economical anymore . Electric bikes for dominos surely have a long way to go

[rishi.roger]

Interesting to see how ICE is still too popular, I thought EVs were more economical.
Is it the cost of intial purchase or range ?

[RD410]

Their preference vary according to region. Here in Cochin, I mostly see Bajaj CT110X, CT125X, Platina, Splendor, HF Deluxe, Activa, Dio, Jupiter and Ola. These are the vehicles that full time delivery partners prefer. Bajaj commuter bikes especially Platina, give great FE even in peak traffic. So they are perfect for delivery job. Then there are also some part time partners who deliver on sports bikes, but mainly to pay off the EMI of the said bikes.

Originally Posted by arnav17

From what I hear from a Dominos delivery partner, they are slowly switching from Splendor to Activa and Dio. Apparently Splendor gives them horrible mileage and isn't economical anymore . Electric bikes for dominos surely have a long way to go

Neither Splendor, nor Activa or Dio are the most fuel efficient in stop-go traffic. They'll give at best 50kpl in heavy traffic. Their Honda Super Cub derived engines are primarily tuned for pulling heavy loads, fuel efficiency is not the main focus. Here in hilly regions of Kerala, it's a common sight to see Splendor & Activa effortlessly climb up steep inclines while carrying 3 full size people. I had a HH Passion with 40kpl worst and just 65kpl best FE. But it used to pull like a tractor. Products from TVS & Bajaj are high on fuel efficiency and comfort, but cannot quite take the beating like our Indian Honda Super Cub derivatives.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by arnav17

From what I hear from a Dominos delivery partner, they are slowly switching from Splendor to Activa and Dio. Apparently Splendor gives them horrible mileage and isn't economical anymore . Electric bikes for dominos surely have a long way to go

In Mumbai, Domino's delivery boys have started using e-scooters already.

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Borzo, a global delivery service that enables intra-city delivery for business, analyzed their data and has come up with the top 15 most popular bikes and scooters that delivery riders used in 2023.

Is the data only for borzo? Then it can't match in anyway the behemoths and therefore this data won't be representative. In this case, headline should be changed.
If it includes all companies, would be great to receive the raw data so we can get some charts and graphs for visualization.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by rishi.roger

Interesting to see how ICE is still too popular, I thought EVs were more economical.

If their base has charging (I believe Dominos does), then it makes a lot of sense. Dominos riders will always go back to the same restaurant after making deliveries.

For Swiggy / Zomato riders, it can be more challenging as they don't have a fixed pickup spot & the bikes often run in two shifts. Once one delivery rider is done, he hands it over to the next guy (like Ubers & Olas). Many of these run for 16 - 20 hours a day between two riders.

[d.w.w.]

Originally Posted by rishi.roger

Interesting to see how ICE is still too popular, I thought EVs were more economical.
Is it the cost of intial purchase or range ?

Most delivery boys prefer a used bike( which will be ICE 99% of the time) so that they don't have to invest much. From what I have seen, e-commerce delivery boys who run the same route everyday upgrades to a electric vehicle as they have a fair idea of the distance they will cover in a day. Food delivery folks who don't have any idea of their delivery route will stick to ICE vehicles to avoid range issues.

[Burgman_tales]

Is Yulu being used in Bangalore only? It's crazy economical. You can rent one for 5-6k monthly, you get free battery swapping and unlimited kms.

Of the other 4 listed above (TVs, ather, ola etc), never seen delivery boys use them at all because how will they charge it ?

[Vaastav]

Originally Posted by RD410

Their preference vary according to region. Here in Cochin, I mostly see Bajaj CT110X, CT125X, Platina, Splendor, HF Deluxe, Activa, Dio, Jupiter and Ola. These are the vehicles that full time delivery partners prefer. Bajaj commuter bikes especially Platina, give great FE even in peak traffic. So they are perfect for delivery job. Then there are also some part time partners who deliver on sports bikes, but mainly to pay off the EMI of the said bikes.



Neither Splendor, nor Activa or Dio are the most fuel efficient in stop-go traffic. They'll give at best 50kpl in heavy traffic. Their Honda Super Cub derived engines are primarily tuned for pulling heavy loads, fuel efficiency is not the main focus. Here in hilly regions of Kerala, it's a common sight to see Splendor & Activa effortlessly climb up steep inclines while carrying 3 full size people. I had a HH Passion with 40kpl worst and just 65kpl best FE. But it used to pull like a tractor. Products from TVS & Bajaj are high on fuel efficiency and comfort, but cannot quite take the beating like our Indian Honda Super Cub derivatives.

Another reason for low FE is that they are all fitted with injectors, as per BS-6 specifications, and an injector cannot be set, unlike a carburettor. A friend of mine has a CD-100SS, and he gets 60-65 easily, and with sensible riding has managed to go up to 70 km/l. Of course none of them can match the Taurus Diesel for average.

[jetsetgo08]

Here in hyderbad, Splendor, Hf deluxe, Activa, Shine are the most obvious choices for gig-workers followed by Bajaj and TVS equivalents.

The high resale value of the Splendor and Activa make them the obvious choices, as it would be easier to dispose them with lesser losses.