Dive Brief:
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DoorDash has added a few more retailers to its non-food client list, the last-mile delivery company said on Thursday. With that, more than 98% of its monthly consumers in the U.S. have access to a non-restaurant retail store on its platform.
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Retailers added recently include more than 250 Lush Cosmetics stores in the U.S. and Canada; over 700 Party City stores and its marketplace; and hundreds of Victoria’s Secret’s U.S. stores, per a company press release.
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The company said it has also improved the service for customers, with “a more seamless experience including delivery windows, express delivery, enhanced search within retail stores and frictionless in-app communication.”
Dive Insight:
DoorDash moved beyond its restaurant focus a few years ago and has been steadily adding retailers to its stable of locations. Late last year, Sephora tied up with the company to facilitate delivery from more than 500 stores in North America, incorporating its loyalty program into the option.
“Our mission is to bring consumers all the best of their neighborhoods to their doorstep, including retail, grocery, convenience, and alcohol items, at low cost while saving them time,” Fuad Hannon, vice president of new verticals at DoorDash, said in a statement.
The company’s express delivery allows customers to get essential items like over-the-counter medicine and travel necessities quickly, Hannon also said.
In addition to express delivery, DoorDash is adding the ability to schedule ahead within a delivery window, has optimized search so in-stock availability is easier to add to cart and improving its substitution process for when a specific item isn’t available or a swap is necessary, per the release.
The last mile has been notoriously tricky and expensive for retailers to solve. Sephora had experimented with various options before tying up with DoorDash. Last month Target, which bought last-mile company Shipt in 2017 for $550 million, announced a $100 million investment to expand its next-day delivery capabilities through the addition of more than six new sorting centers.
