Introducing DashMart, a New Type of Convenience Store
By Andrew Ladd, Director, New Verticals
For years, people have used the DoorDash platform to access the best in their communities. During these trying times, our platform has become a critical lifeline to those we serve, and we’ve been hyperfocused on building new products that meet the immediate needs of our customers while helping our merchant partners thrive in new ways.
For our customers, we’ve accelerated our efforts to bring household essentials to their doors. In April, we launched the Convenience category on DoorDash, powered by partnerships with 7-Eleven, Walgreens, CVS, Wawa, and more. Now our Convenience category includes more than 2,500 convenience shops across more than 1,100 cities nationwide.
For our merchant partners, we announced Main Street Strong in May, our commitment to helping restaurants on the road to recovery. Restaurants on DoorDash are four times more likely to have remained open during the pandemic compared to U.S. restaurants as a whole. Now more than ever, we’re focused on finding innovative ways to help merchants grow their businesses and continue to keep their doors open.
In support of both of these efforts, today we’re announcing the launch of DashMart stores nationwide. DashMart is a new type of convenience store, offering both household essentials and local restaurant favorites to our customers’ doorsteps. On DashMart, you’ll find thousands of convenience, grocery, and restaurant items, from ice cream and chips, to cough medicine and dog food, to spice rubs and packaged desserts from the local restaurants you love on DoorDash. DashMart stores are owned, operated, and curated by DoorDash.
“Brothers BBQ has had an incredible relationship with DoorDash for the past 4 years. DoorDash has been an ideal partner for us and helped us bring Denver’s Best BBQ to the mouths of many! We are thrilled to be a part of DoorDash’s newest channel, DashMart. DashMart will provide Brothers BBQ with a new distribution channel for bottles of our made-from-scratch BBQ Sauces and BBQ Seasoning. We can’t wait to expand the distribution of our signature sauces and dry rub into the hands of those that live in the Denver community, our home for the past 22 years. We are grateful for the strong and supportive relationship we’ve maintained with DoorDash over the years, which has grown even stronger during the recent months.” — Mike McKibbin, District Manager, Brothers BBQ, Denver, CO
DashMart is an entirely new channel for local businesses to reach customers online, transforming how our merchant partners can sell their retail products. We’ve expanded our partnerships with national brands like The Cheesecake Factory and Nando’s, as well as with local restaurants such as Brother’s BBQ in Denver and Corey’s NYC Bagel Deli in Chicago. All of these brands have chosen DashMart to sell their fan-favorite retail products, offering them another avenue for growth. In addition, DashMart enables new types of retailers to sell their products on DoorDash, like Chicago’s This Little Goat’s sauces and spices and Tempe, Arizona’s Noms Bake Shop’s cookies.
“We were thrilled to launch This Little Goat on DoorDash, so home cooks could quickly receive our globally inspired sauces and spices right to their front door, especially during quarantine. Our mission is to make delicious, globally inspired flavors effortless for all home cooks, and we look forward to continuing to grow our business with them.” — Erin Vick, Director of Digital Marketing, This Little Goat, Chicago, IL
DashMart is currently available in 8 cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dallas, Salt Lake City, the greater Phoenix area, and Redwood City, CA. Over the coming months, we’ll be launching in many more cities across the country including San Diego, Baltimore, Denver, Sacramento, and Concord, CA.
“Since the start of this crisis, one of our main priorities has been ensuring that Tempe residents, especially those who are medically vulnerable, have access to food and necessities without compromising their health and safety. DoorDash is doing just that by launching an on-demand delivery option for household items through their DashMart concept. DoorDash has demonstrated a real commitment to our city by helping to drive sales and earning opportunities within the community, and we appreciate that DoorDash chose Tempe as a launch site for DashMart.” — Mayor Corey Woods, City of Tempe, AZ
Our mission is to connect customers to the best in their cities while helping any business on Main Street grow, and we hope to inspire even more local businesses — from restaurants and bakeries to artisanal shops and home goods retailers — to sell with us on DashMart. Customers have long used DoorDash to discover new restaurants in their neighborhoods, and this latest launch continues our commitment to the growth and success of local businesses. For merchants interested in selling on DashMart, you can email us at dashmart@doordash.com.
Introducing DashMart was originally published in DoorDash on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.