Delivery Giant DoorDash Opens Eight Brick-and-Mortar Convenience Stores

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by Lena Schreiner Updated on October 28, 2020
Coffee and creamer lined up on grocery store shelves
Charles Gao

In the last decade, we’ve seen tons of physical stores shut down in favor of online platforms. This month, one major food delivery platform is reversing that. DoorDash announced that it is opening eight convenience stores nationwide, called DashMarts, to provide more options for consumers.

DashMarts 

In April, DoorDash began allowing customers to order from convenience stores like 7-Eleven. Now, however, the company has launched convenience stores of its own, fully stocked with essential items.

Every DashMart offers online delivery, which has gained major traction since the coronavirus pandemic began. DoorDash, typically a competitor of UberEats and Grubhub, is digging into a niche somewhere between Amazon and CVS with this new service. The company has done well through restaurant delivery amid the pandemic but clearly saw an avenue for growth by expanding its delivery options.

“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,” wrote Andrew Ladd, DoorDash’s Director of New Verticals in a press release. 

DashMarts opened in eight U.S. cities in early August: Chicago; Dallas; Minneapolis; Phoenix; Salt Lake City; Redwood City, California; and Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Each location carries about 2,000 items from national and local brands including household items and groceries.

For those that live near DashMarts deliveries should come within 30 minutes, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu told CNBC.

“It’s a bit like the express lane inside of a store, whether that store is a grocery store or a convenience store, or a pharmacy,” Xu said. “Sometimes, you just need those things that either you forgot, or just need in high frequency.”

In the future, DoorDash has plans to open DashMarts in Denver and Sacramento. If the idea works well, not only may DoorDash continue expanding but other competitors could offer similar programs.

See Also: The 10 Best Free Food Apps You Should Have On Your Phone