DoorDash adds new payment option for restaurant orders

A digital delivery platform is offering a manual payment process for its white label fulfillment service.

DoorDash is announcing a new cash-on-delivery feature that lets customers pay for their order with cash on eligible first-party orders fulfilled through its DoorDash Drive white label fulfillment platform. Drivers are required to opt-in to begin accepting cash on delivery orders, and have the flexibility to opt-out at any time without affecting their ratings.

Drivers will collect the payment and all of the money a driver collects is theirs to keep, including 100% of tips received from cash on delivery, as the full order amount will be automatically deducted from their weekly earnings. As a result, drivers can gain immediate cash access to some of their funds, and customers have a new payment method available.

According to DoorDash, 75% of active drivers have opted in to accept cash orders across the United States, with nearly 500,000 drivers having successfully completed a cash delivery over the past year. Cash is only accepted for select DoorDash Drive orders, and is not accepted for orders placed via the main DoorDash marketplace. 

DoorDash Drive focuses on pizza

DoorDash is also unveiling some pizza delivery-specific initiatives it is launching for the DoorDash Drive platform, based on feedback from members of its Restaurant Advisory Council. These include:

• Focusing on delivery times and accuracy: DoorDash says pizza deliveries fulfilled via DoorDash Drive take around 30 minutes on average from customer ordering to preparation to delivery, and it is always looking for ways to decrease that time further.
• Maintaining optimal temperatures with pizza hot bags: Drivers complete nearly three-quarters of pizza deliveries via DoorDash Drive with pizza-specific hot bags, according to DoorDash.

• Creating new communication systems: DoorDash Drive has implemented new streamlined communication tools for pizza restaurants. These include unifying their merchant portal access across both the DoorDash marketplace and Drive platforms, providing a streamlined way to track and communicate with drivers, as well as enabling restaurants to contact customers with order updates via text. 

DoorDash offers new financial perk to drivers

Providing DoorDash Drive delivery personnel direct cash access to payments for select orders comes a few weeks after the company expanded its partnership with digital banking start-up Payfare Inc. to integrate promotions from commerce platform Upside directly into the DasherDirect driver app, which Payfare provides for DoorDash.

As a result, holders of the DasherDirect card, a prepaid debit/rewards card specifically designed for DoorDash drivers (known as “dashers” in company parlance), can utilize Upside promotions at 50,000 gas and food retailers nationwide.

DasherDirect cardholders can claim a personalized fuel, restaurant or grocery offer in the Perks section of their DasherDirect app at eligible retail locations. Offers include up to 25 cents per gallon cash back on fuel and up to 45% cash back on food, which are automatically earned at the point of sale when the purchase is made with the DasherDirect prepaid debit card.