Casey Hofhenke’s Post

DoorDash might have executed one of the most underrated market takeovers in history. In a little over 3 years, they shot up from 16% to a crazy 53% share of the US delivery app market. Here's 3 tactics they used to outplay (or honestly crush) Uber Eats, GrubHub, and Postmates: 1. Avoiding crowded spaces Instead of battling for trendy restaurants, DoorDash targeted established spots without delivery, winning over loyal customer bases and avoiding unnecessary fights. 2. Being a restaurant’s best friend They didn’t just deliver food—they delivered insights. By sharing data on top dishes, customer trends, and delivery times, DoorDash became an essential partner for restaurants. 3. Owning the suburbs While others fought over cities, DoorDash focused on suburban families, a higher-order-value goldmine that competitors overlooked. They had a mission to accomplish and delivered it.

DoorDash pulled off one of the stealthiest market share takeovers in recent history. 🤯 In just three years, they skyrocketed from 16% to 53% of the not competition free U.S. delivery app market. Dominating Uber Eats, GrubHub, and Postmates. DoorDash focused on untapped opportunities focusing on non-delivery restaurants, providing valuable data insights, and targeting higher value suburban areas. During COVID, they stood out by supporting restaurants and drivers with financial aid, fuelling loyalty and driving rapid growth. Play where others didn’t. 👌 DoorDash

What’s really happening in the world of #DoorDash? From long waits at restaurants that hurt drivers’ earnings to app glitches and low pay, the 432k member community on r/DoorDash isn’t holding back. 🍕🚗 In our latest blog series, #DeliveryLife, we explore the realities of DoorDash, straight from the subreddit: ✅ The Good: Tips and strategies from drivers to maximize earnings ✅ The Bad: Wasted time and operational challenges that hit drivers’ wallets ✅ The Ugly: Professionalism and safety concerns in the gig economy At Curbit, we know these challenges are solvable with smarter tools and streamlined processes. Our solutions help restaurants reduce wait times, improving the experience for drivers and ensuring customers get their orders faster -- a win-win-win! 🐸 Read the full blog and join the conversation: https://lnkd.in/eUjDtPkb Let’s transform the delivery experience, one #happyhandoff at a time. 🙌 #curbit #promiseskept #fooddelivery

One of the best ways to compete against the marketplaces(UberEats, DoorDash, Grubhub) for orders isn't "stealing" or "converting" their customers. It's using the same strategies to build your digital storefront. Trying to convert someone who ordered from your restaurant via DoorDash to order direct afterward is really hard. Not impossible, but hard. Trying to make yourself appear in a search alongside DoorDash when someone in your area is looking for food you sell has a much much better ROI and is easier if you have the right tools. #Marketplaces #SMB #Restaurants

DoorDash Business Model DoorDash is maybe the most popular meal-delivery service in the U.S. and has hundreds of thousands of users. The DoorDash business model aims to benefit both users and restaurants, since it allows individuals to order food and beverage from different places on one single platform while providing the businesses with an extended customer base. DoorDash has grown quickly and has overcome large players such as GrubHub, Uber Eats, and Postmates, with an estimated 35% market share. That is a great business, considering that on-demand food delivery services are increasing 20% per year and are expected to reach $365 billion in revenue by 2030. A brief history of DoorDash DoorDash’s history starts back in 2013, when four students from Stanford — Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, Evan Moore, and Andy Fang — founded the so-called PaloAltoDelivery.com.  At the time, food delivery platforms would simply serve as restaurant listings, so the students decided to test https://lnkd.in/g5e9K_6q

Here’s another example of DoorDash using Shared Mail to reach new consumers. No restaurants were in my package this week. Unfortunate. The front cover of the Save package is mailed to a zone of 100,000+ households at a low cost per thousand.  The insert is a higher cost per thousand but targeted to specific neighborhoods or households.  Notice the different redemption codes. If you are a restaurant or retailer who is not following DoorDash’s example of testing and learning, feel free to reach out for guidance.  #directmail #sharedmail #cpm #restaurantmarketing #customerdata

News of today's Instacart x Uber partnership makes it clear that the two companies are finally teaming up to take on DoorDash. All three share a common goal: become the all-in-one delivery super app. But no one app can claim that title just yet. -DoorDash dominates restaurant delivery, but Uber commands a respectable market share. -Instacart has a clear advantage in grocery, but DoorDash has made serious inroads over the last few years and continues to grow. (DoorDash's US grocery sales will grow 33% in 2024, compared to Instacart at 12%). -Instacart clearly sees DoorDash's all-around delivery offering as a threat and wants to woo its customers with a comprehensive delivery offering of its own. -Uber, on the other hand, has a much smaller grocery business but could better compete with DoorDash on the restaurant front with this exposure to Instacart's audience.

DoorDash Was Profitable For The First Time Ever... Was It Really From Operations? The company's profitability was stated to come from two major areas: 1) Reduced Dasher Costs 🤔 2) Advertising Their CFO emphasized that advertising was a MAJOR factor behind the improvement in gross margins (but did not disclose the exact revenue or gross profit generated from advertising alone). The reason they don't want to break out the numbers is because they don't want the general public to know that their model still loses money (even with a YoY order growth of 18% and a YoY increase in gross order value of 19%). Do I think this means DoorDash has a bad business? Not exactly. But it certainly means that their CORE business isn't what's keeping them alive. Advertising revenue is great, but it's a wildly competitive space (and getting even more ruthless with release after release of Retail Media Networks). With Dasher base pay starting at $2 per order, they don't have much room left to "reduce Dasher costs" going forward. Route optimization only goes so far in direct delivery. What happens to people's willingness to access these rates if economic conditions have customers tipping less?

Why I hate DoorDash It represents the race to the bottom. How can we do the bare minimum of acceptable service for the lowest price possible. And they comonly work in stealth mode by being the delivery service for local businesses I'm trying to support. Tonight we ordered a pizza from our local place through the Slice app. It's hot out tonight so we elect to get the pizza delivered. When the pizza arrives (timeliness was fine) they don't knock on the door or ring the doorbell, but instead leave it on a plant stand on the front porch. When we start wondering where the pizza is, we decide to check outside and see it at an angle on the top of a broken plant stand. I check my phone and see that an unnamed Doordash driver is apparently the one that delivered it. I can't complain to my local pizza place, because they didn't do the delivery. I can't complain to Slice because THEY didn't do the delivery. And I can't use the Doordash app to complain because it doesn't show up as an order from my account. I now need to google how to file a complaint with Doordash, go through an automated "help" with very poor user flow until I'm mashing the 0 button on my phone to get to an actual person that can help me. I explain the issue and they reply, "So, you didn't get your food?" *SIGH* I have to explain it again so they actually understand the issue. The send me an email with an issue # so i can send them a photo of the broken planter. I'm told they will "send this to their internal investigation group" and the Dasher will be "appropriately disciplined." No offer of refunding anything or for paying for damages. When I was in my teens and early 20s, I delivered pizzas. I worked as a driver for the restaurant and if someone had a complaint, they called my boss who also owned the pizza joint. I made damn sure I delivered on time and with more than a modicum of care, because I'd get fired. I have no idea what one complaint to a souless corporate greed machine like Doordash will do, but it's obvious the very nature of their system doesn't give a damn about me.

DoorDash buying Deliveroo? (they put the bid in) Though the offer failed, it’s not over. DoorDash's interest shows a strategic move. This was just a tester. Even a 20% premium over Deliveroo current share price could be financially beneficial for DoorDash. What does this tell us about the things to come? - The food delivery market is evolving. - Profitability and consolidation are key trends. - Big players are focussing on strong market positions. - Future deals, especially for Deliveroo, are likely. P.S. Everyone talks about big guys. What about you, the restaurant partners? How is this going to affect your delivery sales and profitability? --- I am Ben, CEO of Andromeda POS Want to feel secure in your deliveries once and for all? Book ‘ask me anything' session to increase your profitable delivery sales.