Fast Five Shorts | Doordash Releases New Suite Of Business Solutions
In the latest edition of Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Avalara, Mirakl, Ownit AI, and Ocampo Capital Chris Walton, Anne Mezzenga and guest host Joe Laszlo of Shoptalk discuss: Doordash Releasing A New Suite Of Business Solutions
For the full episode head here: https://youtu.be/XlWTHMPWRDU
DoorDash has introduced a new suite of digital business tools aimed at enhancing operational efficiency for restaurants and retailers. The primary focus of the discussion revolves around DoorDash's strategic moves compared to those of Instacart, highlighting the challenges and opportunities each faces in the fragmented food service and grocery markets. Speaker B strongly favors DoorDash's approach, emphasizing that the restaurant industry is in greater need of innovative solutions due to its complexity. The speakers explore various features of DoorDash's new offerings, including a drive-on-demand solution, online ordering, phone ordering, table-side ordering, and dedicated customer support. The conversation also touches on the stickiness of DoorDash's user base, noting that their existing clientele already values the app's functionality, which positions them favorably in the competitive landscape.
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Transcript
DoorDash has launched a new suite of digital business tools.
Speaker A:According to chain storage.
Speaker A:The new products and features include the Doordash commerce platform, which consists of these five core solutions.
Speaker A:First, a drive on demand solution that offers the ability to offer delivery through a business's own app or website.
Speaker A:Second, online ordering, which is a way to provide commission free digital sales and branding on a retailer's website or own branded app.
Speaker A:Third, phone ordering, which is an AI based call and ordering system with menu recommendations.
Speaker A:Fourth, table side order and pay, which is the option for customers to scan a QR code with their phone for increased order efficiency.
Speaker A:And fifth, customer support solutions in the form of a dedicated delivery support platform for customer inquiries.
Speaker A:Chris, we're going to go to you first here as both Instacart and DoorDash look to extend their reach into the technological solutions that power a larger range of grocers and restaurants operations beyond just delivery, whose approach do you like more?
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Coming in hot for me, too.
Speaker B:And I mean, hands down, hands down, it's Doordash.
Speaker B:I would go Doordash.
Speaker A:Explain yourself.
Speaker A:Explain yourself.
Speaker B:Big, big foot on the scale of DoorDash, because the rest, because for a few reasons, restaurant business is more fragmented and in need of solutions like this that work than, say, the grocery.
Speaker B:The grocery industry is fragmented, but it's not as fragmented as the restaurant business.
Speaker B:And I was also add that the restaurant business is easier to run than a grocery store.
Speaker B:And for all of you, detractors out there debate that.
Speaker B:And you're like, what are you talking about?
Speaker B:You now know that running a restaurant is easier than running a grocery store, because restaurants are inside of grocery stores.
Speaker B:So it means what Instacart is trying to do is very, very difficult.
Speaker B:You know, it's hard to come up with the technological pieces that make everything work.
Speaker B:And so if I said that another way, what's an easier thing for me to buy into you?
Speaker B:The fact that you can get consumers to scan a QR code on a table, or that you can get them to start using a smart shopping cart.
Speaker B:I think we know the answer to that one.
Speaker B:So restaurants aren't going anywhere yet.
Speaker B:You know, like we discussed tangentially in the first two headlines, the grocers, they've got a tough road to hoe.
Speaker B:And so, who know, you know, I think Instacart just got an uphill battle relative to what Doordash is trying to do here.
Speaker B:That's my take.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker A:Um, I agree with you, Joe.
Speaker C:Like, definitely, definitely not going to pick a favorite.
Speaker C:We love both Doordash and Instacart.
Speaker C:They're both grocery shop next week.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:So I don't know that I like one or the other solution better, but, but I do think it's, it's really smart on Doordash's part to add to the suite of services that it offers to its retailer and restaurant clients.
Speaker C:Anytime you get somebody buying two or three pieces of your modular solution, they're bound to be more sticky, more loyal to you than somebody who's just doing it for the ordering and delivery piece.
Speaker C:I think maybe the most interesting single component here, the one that had me scratching my head a little bit, is the phone ordering.
Speaker C:Like pick up and call and talk to a.
Speaker C:Talk to a fake person about your order.
Speaker C:Because so much of what we talk about when we talk about technology is clearly geared at, like, younger customers as the early adopters, and that's got to be the opposite.
Speaker C:Like, this is one of these rare technology things that if anybody uses it, it would be older shoppers who don't want to go on an app and like, tap and shop that way.
Speaker C:So interesting to see what kind of traction it gets.
Speaker C:Probably more restaurants than grocery, but either way, it's nice to see a tech solution that isn't entirely visual and app based and, and geared for those younger shoppers.
Speaker A:I mean, I think you're bringing up some really important points, both of you, but you just, you look at all of the efficiencies that this is going to provide.
Speaker A:I mean, think as a restaurant owner, you now, like, you don't have to do anything.
Speaker A:You just, you have online ordering automatically in your app that's coming through.
Speaker A:You're cutting down on staffing because you don't have to have somebody, you know, on the phone lines answering questions.
Speaker A:And especially, especially Doordash is so good at this.
Speaker A:I don't know if either of you have ever encountered, have you ever had to contact, contact customer support at Doordash?
Speaker A:Like if you had an order go wrong or anything like that?
Speaker B:No, no, not really.
Speaker B:It always goes pretty well for me, actually.
Speaker A:Well, I have to say, like, I know I'm talking to a robot.
Speaker A:They have handled my, like, order issues so quickly and so efficiently, and it doesn't, like, I, in most cases, I would question the stuff that Joe's talking about.
Speaker A:Like, is the person really going to have a fruitful conversation ordering their dinner with a, with AI generated order taker?
Speaker A:But Doordash has done such a phenomenal job on the customer service side of this that I think that they'll definitely be using those tactics to make sure that that process is as seamless as possible.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The other thing, too, is, like, I think you look at the stickiness of the Doordash consumer.
Speaker A:You have doordash.
Speaker A:As of the end of last year, they have 37 million active users, compared to Instacart's 14 million active users at the end of last year.
Speaker A:And so I think that for all these.
Speaker A:These restaurants or grocers who are looking for the go to to be part of the kind of go to app when it comes to food ordering and grocery ordering, like, they've got DoorDash already there.
Speaker A:They've set up this clientele who's used to the functionality of that application.
Speaker A:But, Chris, close us out here point.
Speaker B:Because when you go back to it, because the restaurant delivery, like we've talked about on the show, that's the niche, that's the strategic differentiation point here.
Speaker B:Because a lot of what Instacart's doing, too, like, when you look at, like, standing up, the standing up, the website browser for the small local grocers and whatnot, like, doordash can potentially do that as well.
Speaker B:Like, that's the easy stuff to do.
Speaker B:And then that just like a race to the bottom in terms of who can provide it at the lowest cost.
Speaker B:And there's tons of other providers out there besides these two.
Speaker B:But when you get into the operations of a restaurant versus a grocery store, too, that's where I think, you know, there's just more growth from this strategy than I think it is, than there is in terms of Instacart, because it's gonna be harder for Instacart to get in there and do all this, but.
Speaker A:And you can order from your table, from the QR code, which I'm just a huge fan of.
Speaker B:I can't wait for that to come.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:That is still my biggest frustration with restaurant shopping, waiting for the check.
Speaker B:It just makes.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:I know, I know.
