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Home » Delivery Gigs » Want to deliver for Spark? See driver pay, requirements, and how start!

Want to deliver for Spark? See driver pay, requirements, and how start!

Updated February 22, 2023 By Doug H60 Comments

Drivers in the gig economy are giving Walmart a fighting chance at catching up with Amazon delivery.

Walmart now partners with gig apps like Spark and Uber Eats to offer faster shipping and same-day delivery.

Like many other delivery apps in the gig economy, Spark pays independent drivers to pick up and deliver orders.

But Spark is unique: It exclusively focuses on Walmart, Home Depot, and Sam’s Club delivery.

If you’re interested in delivering for Spark, you can expect to make up to $20 per hour.

Just about anyone 18 or older with access to a car can try this gig, so if there are busy Walmart stores in your area, consider delivering for Spark!

In this Article
  • Spark Driver Requirements
  • How Much Do Spark Walmart Drivers Make?
  • The Application Process
  • What Do Spark Drivers Do? Work Overview
  • Driver Ratings & Metrics
  • Bonuses and Incentives to Increase Pay
  • The Pros and Cons of Driving for Spark

Spark Driver Requirements

  • Drivers must be 18 or older
  • Have access to a reliable vehicle
  • Show proof of auto insurance
  • Consent to background screening

Apply for Spark here: drive4spark.walmart.com

Spark vehicle requirements: Spark accepts any car, SUV, truck, or van. There is no model year requirement and no vehicle inspection.

Scooters and bicycles are not accepted because they don’t have enough storage space for the typical Walmart order.

If you’re interested in scooter or bicycle delivery, try Uber Eats or DoorDash.

Related: Vehicle Requirements for Top Delivery Apps

How much do Spark drivers make?

Spark drivers are paid for each delivered order. There is no set hourly wage, but you can expect Spark pay to be around $10–$20 per hour, on average.

It’s possible to earn $500/week on part-time hours, but your actual pay will depend on how busy your market is and how many hours you can drive.

Spark earnings screen with $670 in earnings

A solid payout. Credit Jinroh75 on Reddit

Spark driver earnings statement with $1255 in pay

Spectacular earnings for this driver. Results may not be typical! Credit AAV5150 on Reddit

How Spark drivers get paid for deliveries

Spark drivers are paid for each completed delivery. Every delivery offers shows an estimated payout, the delivery distance, and the order type.

You are free to accept or reject any offers. So if an order payout is too low, you can reject it and wait for a higher-paying one.

How does Spark calculate the pay for orders?

Like many gig economy apps, the earnings calculation for Spark deliveries is based on an algorithm that isn’t fully explained to drivers.

That means that you won’t know exactly how the earnings are calculated for individual deliveries.

Sparks says that the earnings calculation takes into account distance traveled, order size, complexities of the drop-off, and more.

Two Spark order offers, each for about $19

Order offers show estimated payout, store location, order type, and distance. Credit LaxxedOtter on Reddit

Getting paid: The Branch Wallet

Spark drivers are paid each Tuesday through the Branch Wallet, an electronic payment service that all drivers have to set up during the enrollment process.

Transfers from Branch to a bank account are free if you choose the option that takes 3–5 business days, but there is a 2% fee for instant transfers.

There isn’t currently a way to cash out your Spark earnings daily. Most other gig apps offer ways to cash out daily, so Spark has some catching up to do when it comes to payment flexibility.

How tips work for Spark drivers

Spark drivers receive 100% of any tips left by customers. Customers can include a tip during checkout, and any tip left before the delivery will be included in the estimated payout. Customers can also tip after the delivery is complete.

You can screen out non-tipping, low-paying orders—A low upfront estimate means that the customer didn’t tip during checkout, and customers are less likely to tip after the order is over.

Customers have 24 hours to adjust their tip, so it’s possible that a tip can be increased or decreased.

Unfortunately, that means tip baiting is possible—a customer can lure you with a great tip and remove it afterward. It’s not a common practice, but it’s something that Spark drivers should be aware of.

The application process to get started with Spark

Begin the application process at drive4spark.walmart.com. Click ‘Join Spark Driver’ at the top of the page and complete the enrollment form.

Follow the instructions to complete your Spark driver account, then consent to a background check and wait for the results.

After the background screening is completed, the next step is to wait for Spark to approve you to drive.

How long does it take to get accepted by Spark?

If your market is currently in need of new drivers, it can take as little as 3–7 days to get started. But for many applicants in 2023, it can take weeks or even months to get fully onboarded.

Many Spark applicants pass the background check, but end up waiting months to start delivering.

The longer wait time are likely due to over saturation—There are too many drivers for the current delivery demand, so Spark won’t approve a new batch of drivers until the market needs them.

If you are stuck at the “screening” or “accepted” stage and there aren’t any issues with your background check, you can try contacting Spark for an update. But there’s not much more you can do to move things along.

Spark application steps, with the applicant on the 'screening' step

Stucks at “screening” or “completed”? You’re not alone

How to contact Spark about your application: Call driver support at 855-743-0457, or email [email protected]

What cities is Spark in?

Check this page to see which cities and states are accepting Spark drivers.

What do Spark drivers do? Work overview

Here’s what a day in the life of a Spark driver is like: First, you sign into the Spark driver app and mark yourself available by selecting Spark Now.

Then, you wait for order offers to come in.

When an order offers appears, it shows the estimated payout, store location, order type, and the number of orders.

After you accept an order, you will navigate to the store and follow instructions to pick up the order.

You will pick up some orders in the parking lot, and others will be inside the store.

Once your car is loaded with the order, navigate to the customer and drop it off according to the instructions in the app.

After you drop off the order, wait for your next order.

Receiving order requests: Round robin offers & First come, first serve

When you’re signed in and waiting for orders, new order requests come in two ways: Round robin offers and first come first, serve offers.

Round robin offers are sent to individual drivers, and you have several minutes to accept or reject the order. Typically round robin offers come once per hour.

First come, first serve offers are sent out to many nearby drivers simultaneously, and the first driver to accept the request gets the order.

Types of orders on Spark

The primary order types on Spark are called curbside, dotcom, express, and shop & deliver. 

Curbside orders are picked up in a designated loading area of the Walmart parking lot. The items are typically grocery items. A Walmart employee will load your vehicle. Customers can pre tip on curbside orders.

Express deliveries are for customers who request shipping within two hours or less. In the app, express orders are indicated by a blue lightning bolt. Most Express orders are shopping and delivery orders.

Dotcom orders are items purchased from Walmart.com, like cleaning supplies and other general items. Dotcom orders allow unattended dropoffs, meaning you can drop off the item without contacting the customer.

Customers don’t have the option to tip during checkout on Dotcom orders, so they aren’t always the preferred order type for many Spark drivers.

Dotcoms also tend to be batched together, so you’ll have to make several stops at different addresses.

For Shopping and delivery orders, you have to enter the store to shop for items. After collecting all the items, you pay for the order using a QR code in the app and deliver the order as normal. It’s similar to shopping for Instacart.

  • All about Shopping and Delivery on Spark: Tips and Strategies

Can someone else ride with you while you deliver for Spark?

According to the Spark Driver FAQ, you can bring a passenger along, but they are not permitted to participate in any work. Your passenger is not supposed to help you load, unload, or deliver orders.

You can bring a child along, but only if they are old enough to be left alone in a vehicle. And only if they don’t help you with any of the work.

Sparks ratings: Driver performance metrics

Spark keeps track of 4 different metrics for drivers: Acceptance rate, on-time arrival, drop order rate, and customer rating.

Metrics are calculated based on your 50 most recent orders or the trips you’ve completed within the last 3 months.

Unlike other delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats, your acceptance rating on Spark affects the offers you receive.

Spark drivers with a higher acceptance rate receive order priority on round robin orders, so it’s best to keep your acceptance rate above 70%.

Your acceptance rate is the number of offers you accepted out of the numbers you received when you were available. First come, first serve offers don’t count toward your acceptance rate.

On-time arrival measures the number of times you arrived at the store within 15 minutes of the scheduled pickup time.

Drop order rate counts how many orders you dropped (cancelled) less than 30 minutes before the pickup time.

Customer rating is a 5-star scale. It is calculated based on your 50 most recent customer ratings.

When does Spark deactivate drivers? Spark can deactivate you for violating the terms of service. Common reasons for deactivation are: Too many misdelivered orders, complaints from customers, and complaints from Walmart store workers.

  • Deactivations on Spark: How to appeal and get reactivated
Spark ratings screens with very high ratings all coded in green

Acceptance rating is more important on Spark than other gig apps. Credit SyracuseBills1 on Reddit

Bonuses and incentives for Spark drivers

Spark offers several different bonus incentives that can help you increase your earnings.

The lump sum incentive gives a bonus payment for completing a set number of trips. For example, “Complete 4 trips to earn an extra $25.”

The tiered incentive is a series of lump sum incentives. For example, “Complete 4 trips to earn an extra $25, 6 to earn an extra $40, and $8 for an extra $40.”

Guaranteed earnings will give you a bonus if your earnings don’t meet a guaranteed minimum. So if the guaranteed minimum is $250 and your earnings were only $200, you will get a $50 bonus.

Pay-per-trip incentives give you a bonus for doing a single trip. For example, “Earn an extra $3 for each trip completed today after 2pm.”

Spark bonus progress screen with two $5 bouses displayed

A $5 bonus per trip can add up

Spark milestone bonus progress screen with bonuses for $60, $90, and $120

Milestone bonuses have big payouts…if you can get enough orders

 

Not getting any incentives? Here’s why

There is no guarantee that you’ll receive bonus and incentive offers. Getting bonus offers is mainly a matter of luck and being available to work when bonuses are offered.

Spark typically offers bonuses when they need extra drivers, and some Spark drivers find that the bonuses work too well to lure in drivers, “I hate bonus weeks or days. All the part timers show up, makes it difficult to accept orders.”

incentive program page in the spark app that says 'you don't have any eligible incentive programs yet'

Not getting incentives? There’s not much you can do to get more

Is it worth driving for Spark? Pros and cons

Spark is worth considering if your area has busy Walmart stores. In a good area, earnings can be strong and you can rely on Spark for part-time income.

Another perk of Spark compared to other delivery gigs is that you’ll only be working out of the Walmart stores in your zone.

With other delivery gigs, you have to drive all over town to different restaurants and stores.

On the negative side, earnings for Spark can dip low if your market isn’t very busy. Many drivers also report that the Spark app isn’t as polished compared to other services, so you may run into more issues than you’d like.

The way that orders are distributed is another point of complaint from some drivers.

You must maintain a high acceptance rating to get the best offer, which means accepting low-paying orders that you would skip on an app that doesn’t incentivize a high acceptance rating.

Other delivery gigs to look into

If you’re interested in delivering for Spark, these other on-demand delivery gigs are worth considering.

  • DoorDash
  • Instacart
  • Uber Eats
  • Amazon Flex
  • Shipt
11 shares

Originally Published October 11, 2021
Filed Under: Delivery Gigs, Spark

About Doug H

Gig economy driver, writer, and expert since 2013. I created Ridesharing Driver to help drivers navigate all of the challenges we face in the on-demand world!

Comments

  1. Bill says

    February 9, 2023 at 10:38 pm

    Why can’t Wal Mart employees drive for Spark?

    Reply
    • Doug H says

      February 10, 2023 at 9:06 am

      Similarly, Amazon warehouse employees can’t drive for Amazon Flex. My guess is that there are some legal/tax issues about being w-2 and 1099 at the same time

      Reply
  2. Jenn says

    December 22, 2022 at 8:55 am

    No you need to call and talk tier 2 department but it needs to be within 2 days of the trip but I have to call or chat and they will send a ticket or ref number. they are pretty good at getting me straight with any issues. I also use stride to calculate miles and time as soon as I arrive at the store I hit track miles it will run an you will have accurate time.

    Reply
  3. Charlotte Tompkins says

    December 9, 2022 at 8:04 am

    Do I have to wait until my application is processed to get on the spark driver ap? I tried to login and it says not a valid email.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Fitzwater says

      December 23, 2022 at 3:13 pm

      I have the same issue with the app as you and I don’t know who I can talk to about it.

      Reply
  4. Marvietta says

    November 3, 2022 at 11:27 am

    I really don’t think your acceptance rate should effect how you receive orders, I do this part time and for a living. You stated that we don’t have to accept offers if they are low. Also there needs to be a better way to get pick ups out faster. I sometimes have to wait 45 minutes sometime and the order is in Ready status. Then if the time is not adjusted you are already late to deliver the order.

    Reply
    • Mike says

      December 13, 2022 at 6:40 pm

      Spark compensates you if you have a wait time more than 30 min. It will come as a separate earnings within 24 hours. Not sure the rate in which they pay

      Reply
      • Ryan says

        December 21, 2022 at 3:57 pm

        I just got paid $2.50 for waiting over an hour and a half. I contacted support as I had seen the posts saying $10+ but they stated there was no way for them to make any adjustments to the pay, and that even they do not know what it is supposed to be… so it must be $2.50 for anything over 30 minutes wait time.

        Reply
        • DeShun Latrice Allen says

          December 21, 2022 at 8:24 pm

          If it takes more than 30 minutes of wait time, you can cancel the pick-up, still get paid, and it does not affect your metrics. Watch the clock. At 30 minutes, call driver support.

  5. Diane says

    October 23, 2022 at 7:56 pm

    I’ve been waiting over a month to hear from spark. They still haven’t started my background check.

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      November 25, 2022 at 12:58 pm

      It took just a few days before the 3 month mark before I was accepted as a driver! 😕 Just have to be patient. I actually forgot I even signed up, it took so long! 😅

      Reply
  6. Kathy says

    June 4, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Have anyone noticed that you have to wait 48 hours for you tips instead of 24 hrs? Then no tips are given? It’s been going on for a little while now. Everyone pays for gas and it’s time and energy. We deserve all that’s given. Pay attention people. If you have excellent ratings and do your job with diligence, you deserve every penny. Let your voice be heard!!

    Reply
    • Benjamin Cook says

      June 20, 2022 at 7:36 am

      I was talking to Spark Customer Service last night about that and I will be calling them back again today. I’ve noticed on your completed trips don’t add up to your pay. I don’t think they should put that you’ll make say $35 for a delivery $20 for delivery and $15 tip then 48 hours later you didn’t get the tip or they changed the amount. If I knew that delivery wasn’t going to pay the full $35 I probably wouldn’t of took the trip. An example a couple evenings ago I accepted a 2 batch delivery. When I get to Walmart the pick up area is packed. I start talkjng to other drives around me and some of them have been waiting for a hour and a half for there order to be brought out. Mine came out 48 minutes after I had arrived. I get loaded up and start to back up and I get a notification that one of my deliveries had canceled. I called customer support and ask if my pay is going to stay the same. She assured me that it would stay the same well 48 hrs later when the system updates which should have been 24 hrs but that’s a lie. I did not get the full pay. I don’t see how that is fair in anyway for my pay to be deducted over Walmart taking almost a hour to get my delivery out to me. I think it should be set once the customer chooses whether they want to tip or not. And they should not have X amount of time to adjust there tip based on something that might not be the drivers fault but yet we still get punished with a pay deduction. I don’t do this for the hell of it I do it to provide for my family and am counting on that pay to stay the same when I choice to take that delivery or not. They definitely need to figure something better on that end of things.

      Reply
      • DoubleDecker says

        October 4, 2022 at 10:11 am

        There should be a place where drivers can rate the customers, or at least warn other drivers of customers who always change the tip to zero. I just did a shop and deliver order for a customer who had just stiffed me on my tip the previous week, but I thought I would give them a second chance. Spent an hour shopping for them, then bagging everything and then delivering it to them and then today I see that the tip was changed from $14 to 0. I will never accept another order from them again, but I wish there was a way to let other drivers know.

        Reply
    • Erik says

      November 11, 2022 at 9:01 am

      When I apply for the Walmart spark app do you think I should register the app as a business or? That’s a question I’m getting when applying. Any advice would be appreciated

      Reply
  7. Darlene Headrick says

    June 3, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    I can’t seem to log into the app. First it said my email address was not applicable then it was but my password was not. Help please

    Reply
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