By Fuad Hannon, Product Operations Manager
Today we are launching DoorDash Drive, our first step in launching a DoorDash platform that allows merchants to deliver meals or other items that are ordered outside the DoorDash marketplace. DoorDash Drive builds on our years of work creating technology for restaurants and our deep experience in the delivery space to give every business their own on-demand delivery fleet. As a restaurant owner, that means you can refocus your staff on building a great in-house experience rather than dispatch them to deliveries, save money by utilizing our world-class technology, and grow your business by taking on more orders without worrying about having enough drivers to fulfill them.
How it works
Using DoorDash Drive is simple and quick. Once signed up, you are able to place orders up to two weeks in advance or up to an hour ahead of time, giving you the flexibility to use DoorDash Drive in the way that best serves your business. Whether you plan to schedule a week’s worth of deliveries in advance, or simply use DoorDash Drive to handle last minute deliveries you normally would have rejected, all we need is a few pieces of information to get started.
First, simply enter an order with the delivery location, delivery time, and size of the order. Once you submit the details our logistics technology kicks into high gear. Our algorithm offers these orders to Dashers who are equipped to handle larger orders, while our support software monitors the order through every step — from a Dasher accepting the order all the way through to delivery — to ensure a consistently excellent customer experience.
Other product features built into DoorDash Drive include:
- An Active Orders page that acts as your “mission control” center to see the status of every delivery, which Dasher has accepted each delivery, and the exact locations of the Dasher.
- An Order History page where you can see all prior deliveries by day or by store (for a business with multiple locations) to easily reconcile your accounting and better understand customer behavior.
- A dedicated support team for DoorDash Drive that will be on the phone with you in no time to handle any questions or thoughts you may have.
DoorDash Drive applications
We know all business don’t face the same challenges, so we’ve built DoorDash Drive to be as flexible as possible. From national chains with hundreds of locations and a centralized process, to single-location family-owned restaurants, businesses around the country have found that DoorDash Drive is customizable to their needs. For example, while Buca di Beppo has been using DoorDash Drive for delivery orders processed by a national team, Coolhaus has been using Drive to restock their ice cream in retail locations, and Greenleaf Chopshop uses Drive to deliver their salads and smoothies to Equinox gyms across LA.
How to get started
Simply go to doordash.com/drive/discover and provide us a little bit of information on your business, what challenges you face, and how you would like to use DoorDash Drive. From there, a member of our Operations team will be in touch to help get you started on the platform. Within 24 hours you’ll be up and running, allowing your restaurant to go from never offering delivery to having a fleet of thousands of Dashers at the touch of a button within a day.
