DoorDash upgrades apps for customers, drivers, retailers

DoorDash is offering new mobile features to all participants in its online delivery ecosystem.

The on-demand delivery platform is redesigning the mobile apps used by its customers, drivers and retail partners. Following is a look at how DoorDash is enhancing the mobile experience for each segment of its business:

Customers

New features in the updated DoorDash consumer app include:

• Universal search – A universal search bar at the top of the app allows customers to search for anything they need from anywhere on DoorDash in their shopping journey.
• Browse tab–The new browse tab provides one place to browse offerings from more than 100,000 non-restaurant businesses on DoorDash, including grocery, convenience, flowers, gifts, and party supplies.

• Grocery tab – The grocery tab enables customers to shop from their favorite grocery stores.
• Retail tab – The new retail tab is designed to function like a virtual shopping mall that’s accessible in one tap from the homepage.
• Multiple carts – Customers can now start multiple shopping carts across different retail categories in the app, check out whenever they are ready, and never lose progress on an order. Shoppers can view and manage all of their open carts by tapping the cart icon in the top-right corner of the app.

Drivers

For the first time, drivers will have the ability to choose between two distinct ways to earn on the driver app, along with several other new app features. In March 2023, DoorDash rolled out new financial rewards for drivers.

• Earn by time: From the moment they accept an offer until it’s completed, drivers will earn a guaranteed hourly minimum rate plus 100% of tips on top. 

• Earn per offer : When a driver earns per offer, on the driver app they will be shown upfront the guaranteed minimum amount they can expect to make on that offer – and keep 100% of tips. At the start of every delivery where earn by time is available, drivers can choose which earning mode they want to use and at any time, they can end their delivery and start a new one in a different mode when available.
• Post-checkout tipping – This new feature enables customers to add a tip for their driver – or increase their tip – directly in the DoorDash app up to 30 days after delivery. 

• Dash along the way – Drivers can automatically receive offers that take them directly to the zone they have selected as their route’s starting point, reducing downtime and helping maximize their earnings potential. 

• Location sharing – Drivers can share their location in-app with up to five trusted contacts. Those contacts can track them in real-time and can see if a driver is making or has ended a delivery, or if 911 help has been requested. 

Retailers

• Personalized growth recommendations – Restaurants now have access to personalized recommendations within their app’s Merchant Portal, ranging from ways  to improve order accuracy, optimize menus by adding photos, or adopting new products to grow their business.

• New ways to reward customers – A new customer rewards feature lets restauranteurs  reward customers for their repeat patronage on DoorDash. Operators can create this reward within the Solutions Center in the app’s Merchant Portal – all with no additional marketing fees or commissions, except for the cost of the reward itself.

• Driving conversion through storefront enhancements – Storefront, DoorDash’s commission-free online ordering software, now features enhanced customization options, such as personalized fonts and colors, optionality to add smart buttons which direct customers in one click from a restaurant’s website to their online ordering page, item-level ratings carried over from Marketplace to Storefront to highlight most popular items, and the option for customers to leverage their existing DoorDash credentials to log in.

[Read more: DoorDash adds new payment option for restaurant orders]

“Customer feedback has been central to how we approach innovation since our founding 10 years ago, and we continue to embrace that commitment as we build products and services that meet the real-time needs of all the audiences we serve,” said Rajat Shroff, head of product & design at DoorDash, in a corporate blog post. “By helping merchants digitize every part of their business to drive incremental sales, by making every store in the neighborhood more accessible to consumers, and by pioneering the future of work with new and flexible ways to earn, DoorDash is building the future of local commerce on a global scale.”