DoorDash announced another acceleration of its speedy convenience delivery platform. The company said it would start making 15-minute DashMart deliveries with a new fleet of DoorDash-employed couriers.
Launching first in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, the program will feature more than 2,000 items from a new DashMart facility in the area. DoorDash President Christopher Payne said it’s the next step for ultra-convenience-minded consumers.
“DoorDash is positioned to enter this emerging industry and provide consistent quality, speed and convenience that customers know and trust. Many New Yorkers already turn to DoorDash for their next meal or essentials purchases, which puts us in an exciting place to deliver on the promise of ultra-fast delivery,” said Payne in a press release. “Consumers increasingly expect an effortless, enjoyable experience, so while we are starting with DashMarts, our goal is to expand this offering to select grocery and convenience partners.”
He called out the DoorDash logistics networks as a perk for the company as it expands into convenience and the nascent super-fast market, but the company is also changing how it operates with the new plan. Instead of 15-minute deliveries being handled by traditional contract couriers, the speedy deliveries will be fulfilled by DoorDash employees.
“The work associated with 15-minute delivery is fundamentally a different type of role than dashing, which is why we’re excited to now offer employment opportunities for couriers through DashCorps who prefer the consistency and structure that comes with this new model,” a company spokesperson told Food On Demand. “Quick commerce employees will work set schedules, work on average longer hours than Dashers typically choose, wear uniforms, be actively managed, and their job responsibilities will include a variety of work beyond delivery, such as shelf-stocking, customer support, and administrative work.”
Those employees will work “an average of around 20 hours per week, with many working full time.” They’ll have DoorDash uniforms, managers and new technology built around the 15-minute product.
How large that fleet is currently was not disclosed, but it’s certainly something the company will watch as it expands from the initial pilot location in Chelsea. According to the spokesperson, there will be more locations and more partners “over the next few months.”
The service comes with a delivery fee of $1.49 plus service fees. DashPass members get free delivery on orders of $12 or more.
For the innumerable bodegas and corner stores that dot not just Chelsea but all of Manhattan, it sounds like a potentially scary development. DoorDash made a special point to call out a new advisory council that includes those business owners.
” DoorDash is also proud to work with hundreds of local, mom-and-pop convenience stores in NYC and globally, helping them reach new customers and grow their sales through the DoorDash Marketplace. In New York, we are proud to announce a new small business advisory council who will help inform our future partnership with the city’s small businesses, inclusive of bodegas,” read a press release.
The company also noted those new DashCorp employees will soon offer their services to those local merchants.
“While powering quick commerce from DashMarts is DashCorps’ first offering, it will soon offer best-in-class quick commerce logistics services directly to other New York merchants—like bodegas—to help their businesses thrive,” read a company release.
How it all works out will certainly depend on consumer demand and reception from the partner network, but the push toward super-fast delivery is a notable development in the world of convenience and grocery. While something like this is vastly more difficult for restaurant meals on the platform, the delivery networks are demonstrating their vast logistics expertise to take on new use cases proven out by disruptive companies like Gorillas, Jokr, and others which have raised hundreds of millions to tackle the segment.
For every pack of gum and Gatorade, DoorDash gets a little more revenue, but most importantly draws the consumer further into the network for those quick needs, but also less urgent lunches and dinners. In the era of the platform membership, super-fast delivery is yet another perk to keep consumers in the walled garden.
