Preliminary Findings on Substitution Sadness
A Swiggy order has arrived with three substitutions, one cancellation, and a message from the delivery partner that combines apology with an appeal for a five-star rating.
Preliminary Findings on Substitution Sadness A Field Guide to Delivery Order Modification Events
Stage 1: The Order
An order is placed. The order contains six items. Five of them are available. One of them is shown as available but is not, which is a different status than being shown as unavailable, because the former generates an expectation and the latter does not.
The expectation is set. The order is confirmed.
Stage 2: The Notification
A notification arrives informing the user that one item is out of stock and has been substituted with a similar item. The similar item is similar in the sense that it belongs to the same category. The category is broad.
The substitution is not a failure of the platform. It is the platform operating correctly in the presence of an inventory system that has not been updated since the last delivery driver marked the item available, which occurred during a different order, on a different day, for a different customer, whose experience of the item was considered a successful delivery.
Stage 3: The Arrival
The order arrives. The bag contains three substitutions. The original notification mentioned one. The additional two substitutions occurred after the initial notification, during the period between the restaurant accepting the order and the delivery partner collecting it, which is a window during which further substitutions are possible but not communicated in real time.
The item you wanted is no longer available. The item you received is technically in the same category. The category is broad.
Stage 4: The Rating Request
The delivery partner messages to say the order is outside the door, to thank you for your order, and to note that a five-star rating would be appreciated. This message arrives simultaneously with the notification that the order has been delivered.
The delivery partner did not make the substitutions. The delivery partner carried the substituted items with the same care they would have carried the original items. The five-star request is not unreasonable given this.
Stage 5: The Review
The rating window opens. The substitution sadness is still recent. The delivery partner performed their function correctly. The restaurant performed their function within known constraints. The platform performed its function within designed parameters.
The user rates four stars, which communicates something no party involved can act on, and closes the app.
Governing Rule
Substitution sadness is not about the item. The item is a proxy for the portion of the experience that was imagined in advance and not delivered. The portion that was delivered is complete. The gap between these two is the sadness.
In the second year of ordering from home, the gap is familiar. It is rated four stars.