DoorDash delivers COVID-19 recovery initiative
A leading on-demand delivery platform is launching new services to help restaurants operate online as the country reopens.
DoorDash is rolling out “Main Street Strong,” a platform to help restaurants navigate the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This suite of products, programs, and policies is designed to help restaurants develop their own digital ordering solutions and build online brands.
Main Street Strong includes DoorDash Storefront, a service enabling restaurants to create their own online stores. DoorDash Storefront provides a turnkey solution to offer their customers on-demand access to their restaurant without investing in in-house logistics. With this tool, customers can order takeout or delivery directly from the restaurant’s website or app, which plugs into DoorDash’s fulfillment network to complete the delivery.
DoorDash Storefront will be widely available in July and DoorDash will waive set-up, software, and merchant delivery fees for local restaurants incurred in 2020.
The company is also expanding DoorDash Weblinks, a program that manages participating restaurants’ digital ordering by redirecting their customers to DoorDash. Restaurants with five or fewer locations will pay 0% commission on all weblink orders, both delivery and pick up, through the end of 2020.
In addition, DoorDash is bringing back local restaurant promotions. The company will launch “Local Restaurant Saturday,” which offers customers $0 delivery fees on all orders from local restaurants, in June. DoorDash will also invest in growing its local favorites carousels, which feature a rotating selection of local restaurants, and is offering members of the DashPass subscription service 10% off their pickup orders in June.
“Our mission from Day One has been to empower local businesses. The future of e-commerce for these merchants has been pulled forward during this pandemic, and Main Street Strong embodies our commitment to offer local restaurants the tools and services they need to serve their customers in this accelerated transition,” said Tony Xu, DoorDash co-founder and CEO. “With Main Street Strong, our goal is to help merchants to navigate a changing restaurant industry, drive sales to fuel growth, and eventually, welcome customers back to their stores how they choose.”
The series of relief and support initiatives DoorDash rolled out to support the restaurant industry during the height of the pandemic will end May 31. DoorDash operates in more than 4,000 cities and all 50 states across the U.S., Canada, and Australia.