Ava AbbottDoorDash is an online food ordering and delivery platform founded in 2013 by Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, Andy Fang, and Evan Moore. Based in San Francisco, California, the company’s web and mobile platform allow users to search and order food and drinks from local restaurants. In Dec 2020, DoorDash went public and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange. But its debut was lackluster.
DoorDash launched its own ad platform in Sep 2021, enabling restaurants to place ads on top of search results on its app. This advertising business enticed investors and rallied DoorDash stock by almost 10% in five trading days.
The company generated $2.886 billion in 2020 and raised its 2021 forecast for gross order value to between $35 billion and $38 billion. Today, DoorDash has around 7,550 employees and controls 56% of the food delivery market in the US. [1]
DoorDash customers can order drinks, groceries, and ready-made meals from over 300,000 local restaurants, outlets, or grocers in their area. Orders placed through DoorDash are delivered by its fleet of freelance delivery workers called Dashers. So, restaurants don’t need delivery drivers to fulfill orders.
DoorDash offers three plans, DoorDash Basic for 15% commission, DoorDash Plus for 25%, and DoorDash Premier for 30%. Restaurants on DoorDash set menu prices and pay for Plus and Premier to get more visibility and extensive reach. But DoorDash has to fend off strong competitors like UberEATS, Postmates, GrubHub, and Instacart. [2]
Here is an in-depth analysis of top DoorDash’s competitors and alternatives:
1. UberEATS
Year founded: 2014
Headquarter: San Jose, California
UberEATS is a food delivery service offered by Uber, the ride-hailing giant. Both UberEATS and DoorDash provide 24/7 food delivery. But UberEATS has 2,450 more employees than DoorDash. As of Mar 2021, UberEATS accounted for 22% of the US food delivery market with $4.8 billion in annual revenue. [3]
The main competitive advantage for UberEATS over DoorDash is its connection with Uber’s taxi service. The platform’s seamless integration with Uber provides easy access to millions of riders globally. Customers can order specific meals and ingredients instantly or pre-order a week in advance.
Furthermore, UberEATS is cheaper than DoorDash. Users pay only $2 for orders less than $10 and $3 for a $15 order. UberEATS is the top DoorDash competitor and alternative.
2.Postmates
Year founded: 2010
Headquarter: San Jose, California
Postmates is a food delivery service renowned for its ‘deliver-everything’ mantra. The company delivers meals, alcoholic drinks, and everything in between from more than 600,000 restaurants in the US. In 2020, Postmates generated $500 million in revenues.
Postmates has the longest-running rivalry with DoorDash over any other competitor. In 2018, DoorDash attempted to merge with Postmates to fend off UberEATS. Postmates declined the offer, forcing DoorDash to acquire Caviar from Square in 2019. In 2020, Postmates accepted Uber’s acquisition request at $2.65 billion.
This move eroded the gains made by DoorDash’s purchase of Caviar. Postmates expects its revenue to grow from $909 million in 2021 to $1.3 billion in 2023. As a subsidiary of Uber, Postmates has enough financial resources to challenge DoorDash. [4]
3. GrubHub
Year founded: 2004
Headquarter: Chicago, Illinois
GrubHub is an online and mobile food ordering and delivery platform. The company fulfills more than 745,000 orders daily by leveraging tech-driven processes. In 2021, GrubHub had 2,773 employees and made over $500 million in revenues per quarter.
The main advantage of using GrubHub over DoorDash is its customer-centric pre-order service. The company combines its expertise in Internet software and food service to guarantee the ultimate convenience for consumers. Its customers can live-track their orders from AAPI-owned restaurants to the doorstep.
In 2021, GrubHub merged with Just Eat Takeaway and partnered with Resort World Las Vegas, the Washington Football Team, and Yandex. These strategic partnerships will increase GrubHub’s competitive advantage. Its portfolio includes Seamless, Eat24, BiteGrabber, LevelUp, Tapingo, and OrderUp. GrubHub is one of the best DoorDash alternatives. [5]
4. Seamless
Year founded: 1999
Headquarter: Chicago, Illinois
Seamless simplifies food ordering for delivery or takeout. The company has been part of GrubHub’s portfolio of brands since its merger in 2013. With over 2 million members in the US, Seamless is a force to reckon with food delivery.
Seamless partners with over 12,000 restaurants and serves more than 4,000 companies. In Apr 2021, Seamless launched a program to support its restaurant partners and redefined the takeout experience for customers.
The company redesigned several trucks into mini restaurants. Instead of delivering food, these restaurants on wheels brought the dining experience to customers’ doors. Seamless’ ingenuity makes it a worthy DoorDash competitor. [6]
5. Instacart
Year founded: 2012
Headquarter: San Francisco, California
Instacart is an online platform that provides on-demand food and grocery delivery and pick-up services. The company has more than 500,000 active shoppers and strategic partnerships with the leading retailers, including Walmart, Aldi, Whole Food Market, Kroger, Publix, and Costco. In Mar 2021, Instacart was valued at $39 billion.
Instacart is America’s leading online grocery. But the grocer competes with DoorDash because it also offers food delivery service. Instacart delivers to more than 5,500 cities in North America and plans to build automated fulfillment centers to fulfill customers’ orders more efficiently.
Each facility will have 150 robots and handle over 700 orders daily. Instacart is the most innovative DoorDash competitor and alternative. [7]
6. Amazon Fresh
Year founded: 1994
Headquarter: Seattle, Washington
Amazon Fresh platform is an online grocery store offered by Amazon.com. The global eCommerce powerhouse has more than 2 million sellers on its US marketplace. By the end of 2022, Amazon will have more than 7.5 million sellers globally. The eCommerce giant generated $189 billion in revenues from the US market and over $360 billion globally.
In Jun 2021, DoorDash partnered with Albertsons Cos. to offer more than 40,000 grocery items on-demand delivery. DoorDash now competes directly with Amazon Fresh and other e-grocers, such as Walmart+ and Shipt. But Amazon Fresh allows consumers to purchase fresh produce, meat, dairy, seafood, packaged foods, and Whole Foods 365 products.
Although Amazon Fresh requires Amazon Prime membership, consumers can order and get their groceries delivered for free. Amazon Fresh is DoorDash’s top competitor in the e-grocer sector. [8]
7. Waitr Holdings Inc
Year founded: 1999
Headquarter: New York City, NY
Waitr Holdings is a leading food-tech company that offers food ordering and delivery platforms. The company provides two DoorDash alternatives, Waitr and Bitesquad. In 2020, Waitr Holdings turned profitable for the first time. But the company struggled in 2021, making $100 million in revenue in the first six months with a $9 million loss. [9]
Waitr is the best DoorDash alternative for customers seeking restaurant cuisine and carry-out meals. Companies can also use the Bitesquad app, a sophisticated food delivery platform for complex scheduled orders.
This app offers features to help users place large pre-orders for several people with different tastes and dietary needs. Waitr and Bitesquad can help Waitr Holdings poach DoorDash’s high-end and regular customers.
8. FreshDirect
Year founded: 1999
Headquarter: New York City, NY
FreshDirect is an online grocer and food delivery service. In 2020, the company launched Express Delivery Service to deliver meals to customers’ doorsteps in 60 minutes. FreshDirect has around 3000 employees and generates more than $600 million in revenues annually.
In Jan 2021, Ahold Delhaize and Centerbridge acquired FreshDirect. The new owners plan to build micro-fulfillment centers for FreshDirect. These MFCs will increase FreshDirect’s competitive advantage over DoorDash. [10]
9. Dumpling
Year founded: 2017
Headquarter: Seattle, Washington
Dumpling is a food delivery startup founded to challenge the status quo. The company raised $6.5 million in Series A funding and expanded its capacity. As a result, Dumpling’s order volume spiked by 20 times.
Dumpling provides personal shoppers with a unique opportunity to start their own food delivery business. Shoppers pay a one-time $10 set-up fee and a $5 per transaction fee, earning around $33 per order.
The company helped more than 2,000 personal shoppers in 50 states to start shopping businesses. With this lucrative model, Dumpling can poach some customers and Dashers from DoorDash. [11]
10. Favor
Year founded: 2013
Headquarter: Austin, Texas
Favor is an on-demand delivery service with a user-friendly ordering app. The company serves consumers and businesses in 130 cities and towns across Texas and delivers all orders within an hour. In 2021, Favor Delivery’s estimated annual revenue was $377 million.
Favor offers more than a food and grocery delivery. It has over 100,000 “Runners,” who operate like personal assistants.
They have delivered more than 50 million Favors to date, including medicine prescriptions and running errands. Favor is DoorDash’s top competitor and alternative in Texas for many reasons. [12]
References & more information
- Great Speculations (2021, Oct 20). What’s New with DoorDash Stock? Forbes
- Johnson, D. (2021, Jan 20). How does DoorDash work? Business Insider
- Lock, S. (2021, May 12). Uber Eats revenue worldwide 2017-2020. Statista.
- Curry, D. (2021, Nov 11). Postmates Revenue and Usage Statistics. Business of Apps
- Fodnews (2021, Nov 4). GrubHub looks to the future with new partnerships, new ways to order. Food On-Demand News
- Shea, K. (2021, Apr 12). Seamless App’s Restaurant on Wheels puts an experiential spin on Food Delivery. Events Marketer
- Soper, S. (2021, Jun 1). Instacart Bets on Robots to Shrink Ranks of 500,000 Gig Shoppers. Bloomberg
- Bursztynsky, J. (2021, Jun 21). DoorDash and Albertson’s partner on same-day grocery delivery from nearly 2,000 stores. CNBC
- Smith, H. (2021, Oct 27). Why Waitr Holdings Stock Sank Today. The Motley Fool
- PYMNTS (2021, Mar 18). FreshDirect Looks to Micro-Fulfillment for Post-Pandemic Expansion. PYMNTS
- Mascarenhas, N. (2020, Jul 20). Dumpling launches to make anyone become their own Instacart. Tech Crunch
- Favor (2021, Nov 22) Favor Teams Up with the Dallas Cowboys to Deliver the Ultimate VIP Private Watch Party. PRNewswire
- Featured image by Griffin Wooldridge
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Brianna Parker
Kevin Johnson
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