DoorDash chooses Melbourne to debut outside of North America
The biggest food and grocery delivery service in the United States arrived in Australia this week.
DoorDash chose Melbourne as the first city outside of North America to debut.
In the US, the start-up business, established six years ago, operates in more than 4000 cities, delivering from 310,000 venues.
Now worth $A18.6 billion, the company employs more than 700,000 drivers – or “dashers”, as it calls them.
According to this CNN item, DoorDash last month accounted for 36.5 per cent of the US’ meal delivery sales.
Uber Eats, by comparison, delivered 12.8 per cent.
Another service, GrubHub, which isn’t available in Australia, accounted for exactly a third of all US meal delivery sales in July.
In Australia, DoorDash will compete against Menulog and Deliveroo for a share of the $280 million online food delivery market.
It plans to open in Sydney next.
In Melbourne, it will start by delivering in the CBD and expand into the suburbs in coming weeks.
DoorDash is launching with two promotions including free delivery, and “30 or $30” – which means if customers wait longer than half an hour for food, they get a $30 credit on their next order.
The company will also offer a pick-up option – effectively meaning DoorDash will compete with retailers for takeaway orders. Its product will also be configured to allow users to make large group orders.
Melbourne restaurant chains on board for the platform include Betty’s Burgers, Nando’s and Salsa’s Fresh Mex Grill. Smaller eateries including Cedar Bakery and exclusive Italian restaurant, Il Gusto, are also backing DoorDash.
Why Melbourne?
DoorDash Australia general manager Thomas Stephens told Business Insider Australia, in this item, that “Melbourne’s reputation as a food destination attracted the company to the Victorian capital over other Australian cities”
“Melbourne has an incredibly vibrant, diverse food scene, yet to date Melburnians living in the suburbs have had limited delivery options.
“This combination made Melbourne an attractive international opportunity for us, as closing selection gaps has become a core competency of ours”.
DoorDash told Business Insider Australia it hopes to offer the widest selection of restaurants available to customers in outer metropolitan areas.
