Dive Brief:
- DoorDash has added a loyalty program option to its commerce platform as part of a handful of upgrades launched Wednesday, the company said in an email.
- Merchants can choose between a visit-based or spend-based rewards structure and customers can accrue points if they order off of a restaurant’s website, app, DoorDash marketplace or in-store.
- The addition of a loyalty program closes a product gap between DoorDash and its smaller competitors. Uber Eats and Grubhub have offered the ability for merchants to create loyalty programs using their apps for years.
Dive Insight:
The addition of a loyalty program could help independent and small restaurant chains boost customer engagement as many large chains already have robust loyalty programs. DoorDash’s feature doesn’t require any point-of-sales integration and can replace a restaurant’s existing program. This also puts DoorDash in more direct competition with restaurant loyalty providers.
One merchant said within the first month of launching its DoorDash omni-channel loyalty program, 22,000 customers enrolled. These customers have 1.3 times higher frequency in online ordering than non-loyalty customers, helping turn new customers into regulars, John Schall, owner of El Jefe’s Taqueria, said in a statement.
The loyalty program will likely also boost orders made on DoorDash, which continues to grow total orders. During Q2, consumers placed more than 760 million orders with DoorDash, an increase of 20% year over year, according to an earnings release.
Additional updates to DoorDash’s commerce platform include access to a free website built and maintained by DoorDash, built-in CRM tools to send out personalized email and SMS campaigns and an all-in-one dashboard to monitor marketplace and direct orders, loyalty programs and marketing tools.
The company will likely roll out additional tools for merchants in the near future. Earlier this year, it acquired hospitality software company SevenRooms, which provides various marketing, operations and guest experience tools.
DoorDash also rolled out new plans for the Commerce Platform, with tiers for merchants to choose from. The plans include:
- Starter ($0 per store/month): A free branded website and commission-free online ordering (but (2.9% + $0.30 payment processing fee applies)
- Boost ($54 per store/month): Includes everything in Starter, plus automated emails
- Pro ($249 per store/month): Includes everything in Boost, plus a branded mobile app, customizable marketing tools, and a cross-channel loyalty program
