Dive Brief:

• DoorDash rolled out the biggest app update in its 10-year history this week, the company said during a media event on Tuesday. 
• The app includes universal search, multiple carts, new navigation tabs and the ability to use SNAP/EBT for online grocery payments.
• These updates, which were showcased alongside new merchant and Dasher features, come as the company works with more than 500,000 merchants, of which 100,000 are outside the restaurant category, executives said.

Dive Insight:

DoorDash has added new customer functions over the past year, including the expansion of its DoubleDash program to allow users to add alcoholic beverages sold by c-stores or other retailers to restaurant orders. Last summer, the company added new ways to rate, review and discover local restaurants. DoorDash’s expansion of its categories from restaurant merchants to grocery stores, retailers and convenience stores over the past decade helped it create loyalty among its customer base.

Consumers have said they like the convenience and speed of the restaurant product but also wanted the rest of DoorDash’s categories to be accessible. 

“That’s what we’re building towards … bringing the entire city to the consumers’ fingertips,” Rajat Shroff, head of product at DoorDash, said on Tuesday. “What we’re finding is that consumers are actually creating interesting mixes of what they’re trying to do with DoorDash.” 

DoorDash customers now are able to use a universal search bar to search for any item they need from any location. For customers searching for a salad, they can find prepared salads in the restaurant tab, and recommendations for items to create a salad in the grocery tab. Additionally, the app’s browse functionality allows customers to click on a topic, such as flowers, gifts and party supplies or arrange for a package pickup. 

“DoorDash has evolved into a multi-category platform,” Shroff said. “We’re making it easier for consumers to shop for anything they need. … We redesigned our app to provide a seamless shopping experience.”

DoorDash added “grocery” and “retail” tabs to the navigation function at the bottom of the app, allowing customers better accessibility to these options. The bottom navigation is viewable no matter where a customer is in the app. 

Customers also can discover new items through customized carousels based on prior search history, Shroff said. “We know that consumers want the ease of opening one app and placing orders for what they need when they need it.” 

Consumers can build multiple carts, meaning they can fill a grocery cart throughout the week and a lunch order for that day without having to delete the contents of a cart. 

The company added SNAP/EBT online payments for grocery delivery. These payments can be used with major grocers, including Albertsons and Safeway, Meijer, Aldi and 7-Eleven, Schroff said. These partnerships will open up 4,000 grocery and c-store locations to accept payment with SNAP/EBT benefits for on-demand delivery, according to a press release.

DoorDash will offer SNAP recipients access to DashPass membership for free for two months. 

“Affordability and accessibility of all the selection that we have on DoorDash is a key priority for our product team,” Schroff said. “SNAP is one of the key features and key pivots on for that. … Making SNAP more and more available, more and more accessible is always something that you will see us continue to innovate on.”