DoorDash Introduces New Features To Make Holiday Shopping Easier, Faster, and More Affordable

DoorDash is ramping up its holiday efforts to make shopping easier, faster, and more affordable. Customers like how the app’s new features, such as a speedier method to construct your grocery basket and a streamlined shopping experience, make holiday preparations easy. Let’s take a look at what we know about the new developments.

DoorDash Updated Its App

A press release announcement revealed that DoorDash is revamping its retail product shopping experience. Prices and estimated delivery times are now shown in one view when you search for an item among retailers. In the upcoming months, the company will be expanding the update across retail categories such as electronics, beauty, and more. DoorDash started with alcohol to make it easy to select your favorite bottle of champagne for New Year’s Eve.

Additionally, the company is introducing a quicker and simpler method for creating your food basket. To add the things you need to your basket in a matter of minutes, just import your shopping list from the iOS Reminders app or paste it into the DoorDash app.

DoorDash also partnered with Bon Appétit to bring all the supplies you need right to your house and give you free access to some of their favorite chef-inspired dishes, like chocolate chip cookies and no-knead focaccia. Simply pick a recipe from the carefully curated collection, hit the “shop the recipe” button, pick your store, and let DoorDash take care of the rest — no grocery runs needed — to create your list.

Lastly, Package Pickup allows you to order a Dasher to pick up prepaid packages from your home and drop them off at a nearby UPS, FedEx, or USPS location for a fixed charge, whether you’re returning a package or shipping a present to a loved one.

Beauty Partnerships and Drone Delivery

Back in March, DoorDash announced an expanded partnership with Sephora in addition to new partnerships with Sally Beauty and M·A·C Cosmetics. This initiative brings convenience right to customers’ doorsteps by increasing the selection of beauty products available for on-demand delivery.

“We see consumers ordering from retail categories more than ever before and trying out new categories earlier in their DoorDash journey,” said Shanna Prevé, vice president of partnerships at DoorDash, in a statement at the time. “As consumers have higher demand and expectations for convenience and selection, we’re thrilled to connect merchant partners, like Sally Beauty and M·A·C, with people in new ways and unlock potential additional revenue. For consumers, we remain hyper-focused on providing unparalleled speed and service to meet their everyday needs whether it’s the last-minute beauty essentials or the viral must-have new products.”

Additionally, DoorDash made the decision to broaden its offerings by introducing drone delivery in the U.S.

DoorDash and the tech startup Wing began collaborating in March to test drone delivery for fast food in the small Virginian town of Christiansburg. With a population of roughly 22,600, Christiansburg served as the test site for this cutting-edge delivery system. Google-owned Wing is not a new player in the drone market. The company has been delivering goods for Walmart in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

In 2022, the company began a drone delivery trial program with Wing in Australia, and it has since grown to include more than 60 merchants in three regions of Queensland.

Wing’s chief of partnerships, Cosimo Leipold, stated that the success in Australia made this U.S. trial run possible. However, everything is not sunshine and rainbows. The noise these drones produce has drawn complaints from several Australians. One man compared it to having a “swarm of mosquitoes” in your ear.

Some residents, however, appeared more enthusiastic about the new delivery technique. In an interview, one person stated that “he’d already received six drone orders that day alone.”