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Tag: doordash

  • DoorDash Reducing Headcount by 1,250

    DoorDash Reducing Headcount by 1,250

    DoorDash is the latest company to reduce its headcount in the face of economic headwinds, cuttings its workforce by 1,250.

    Countless companies in a range of industries miscalculated the long-term impact of the pandemic. As a result, many companies increased their headcount to levels that were unsustainable once things began to return to normal.

    DoorDash CEO Tony Xu indicated his company had done the same thing in a memo to employees:

    Most of our investments are paying off, and while we’ve always been disciplined in how we have managed our business and operational metrics, we were not as rigorous as we should have been in managing our team growth. That’s on me. As a result, operating expenses grew quickly.

    Unfortunately, the end result is that some 1,250 employees will lose their job:

    This is the most difficult change to DoorDash that I’ve had to announce in our almost 10-year history. Today, we are reducing our corporate headcount by approximately 1250 people and saying goodbye to many talented teammates. If you are among those impacted, I am truly sorry and I apologize to have some of you wake up to this news as opposed to reading it during more normal hours.

  • For Americans, Remote Work = Living the Dream

    For Americans, Remote Work = Living the Dream

    A new poll indicates that two out of five Americans are living the dream, thanks to remote work.

    Work from home (WFH) gained a major boost as a result of the pandemic, but many companies are trying to force a return to the office (RTO). A new poll by OnePoll, on behalf of DoorDash, is giving a major boost to WFH and throwing cold water on RTO plans.

    According to the poll, two in five Americans attribute remote work to their living the dream. In fact, 42% of the 2,000 polled prefer mostly remote work, with only occasional in-office work days. When asked which they would choose exclusively, 26% would choose full remote, while only 9% would choose to be in the office full time.

    Interestingly, the poll also showed how employees are currently working, with 39% spending the majority of their time working remotely. Nearly one-quarter, or 24%, are exclusively remote. Even more telling is the fact that only one in five workers have more in-person workdays than remote.

    Not All Activities Are Equal

    Despite the strong preference for remote work, there are some things the respondents would prefer to do in person. For example, 57% vs 30% prefer in-person one-on-one meetings, while 51% vs 28% prefer in-office activities.

    Similarly, 51% vs 31% prefer in-person social activities and 46% vs 32% prefer in-person happy hours.

    “As companies are looking for solutions to support flexible work, food plays a leading role in maintaining a positive culture. It acts as a catalyst for employees to better connect with their teams, supports employee satisfaction and productivity, and inspires lasting memories through social gatherings over meals,” said Manushika Gabriel, Director & General Manager, DoorDash for Work.

    Overall, the poll should be a warning to companies not to push too hard for RTO policies. While 36% of respondents believe their company’s culture had improved since the pandemic began, roughly half said they planned on leaving their job within the next year. It’s not hard to imagine many of those potential defections may be driven by increasingly aggressive RTO plans.

  • DoorDash Now Delivering Alcohol in 20 States and DC

    DoorDash Now Delivering Alcohol in 20 States and DC

    DoorDash has announced its alcohol delivery service is expanding to 20 states, as well as DC.

    DoorDash is a popular food delivery service, but the company has been expanding into the lucrative alcohol market as well. The company attributes the expansion to various cities and jurisdictions relaxing regulation during the pandemic.

    “Over the past year, many cities where we operate evolved their legislation in order to permit the delivery of alcohol to residents’ homes. Over that time, we worked tirelessly to build a trusted alcohol ordering and delivery experience for merchants, customers and Dashers,” said Caitlin Macnamara, Director, Alcohol Strategy & Operations at DoorDash. “We’re committed to providing new earning opportunities for merchants and Dashers, a safe, high quality experience for customers, and being a responsible leader in compliant alcohol delivery.” 

    The company says it has implemented “rigorous ID verification prior to checkout and multiple ID check points along the delivery to ensure customers are of legal age.”

  • DoorDash Offering On-Demand COVID Test Delivery

    DoorDash Offering On-Demand COVID Test Delivery

    DoorDash is expanding beyond its traditional market, with a new deal to deliver COVID-19 tests.

    Testing remains one of the most important factors to combatting the global pandemic, but finding where to go and getting tested remains a challenge for some. DoorDash aims to address that obstacle, with COVID test deliveries.

    Today, we are excited to announce our partnerships with Vault Health and Everlywell, enabling customers to access two COVID-19 home collection kits that received FDA Emergency Use Authorization on-demand from DoorDash’s DashMart locations across the nation. The Vault Health powered COVID-19 Saliva Test Kit or the Everlywell COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit DTC will be available in 12 DashMart locations across the U.S. including Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, and Phoenix, with more cities rolling out in the coming months. Vault Health’s test kit sells for $119 and Everlywell’s test kit sells for $109; both may be eligible for reimbursement with healthcare insurance.

    Once the test is taken, it can be dropped in the mail and sent off for analysis. The deliveries will make it easier for individuals with limited transportation options to get the testing they need.

    “As many as 30 percent of people skip doctor’s appointments because they don’t have a reliable way of getting there,” said Dr. Marisa Cruz, Head of Clinical Affairs at Everlywell and former Senior Medical Advisor for Digital Health at the FDA. “The fact that you can now get a kit delivered to your door in hours, quickly collect a sample and drop your kit in the mail, and then receive an accurate COVID-19 diagnosis and speak to a physician about next steps in as little as 24 hours later is a significant step forward for public health”.

    Doorstep delivery is one more important tool in the fight against the pandemic, making it that much easier for everyone to get tested as needed.

  • Congress Out To Kill Uber and the Entire Gig Economy Again

    Congress Out To Kill Uber and the Entire Gig Economy Again

    Congress, in a political payoff to unions, have again introduced legislation to effectively make gig economy jobs like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. illegal. The difference this time is that since they now control the House, Senate, and the Presidency it could very well pass. The legislation is modeled after the gig killing bill that was passed in California and that was later overturned via initiative by the people. Unfortunately, at the national level there is no initiative process to overturn Congress.

    Despite the job-killing nature of the bill the Democrat’s press release sings its praises:

    “Top Democrats Introduce Bill to Protect Workers’ Right to Organize and Make our Economy Work for Everyone. Legislation addresses growing income inequality by protecting workers’ right to join a union and negotiate for higher wages and better benefits.”

    The House bill was introduced by House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02).

    The Senate bill was introduced by Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

    The bill mimics the California bill which Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said would effectively end Uber as we know it in California. The company is already losing money and it would be impossible for it to pay a minimum wage of $15 an hour plus benefits to all of its 1 million drivers. It also begs the question, does the Democrat party not realize that the very people who love Uber and who are independent contractors for Uber probably are also majority Democrat voters? After all, the gig economy was popularized by liberal San Francisco based Uber itself.

    Without an initiative process at the national level, the only way to keep the millions of gig jobs alive and to keep rideshare and food delivery readily available would be for their voters to vote the majority party out of office. There really is no middle ground here. In the meantime, if this bill passes Congress and is signed by Biden the gig economy will become illegal.

  • Uber and Lyft Prevail In California Proposition 22 Fight

    Uber and Lyft Prevail In California Proposition 22 Fight

    California’s Proposition 22 is poised to pass, securing the current business model for gig economy companies.

    California has tried to reclassify gig economy companies, such as Uber, Lyft and Doordash. The state previously passed legislation requiring the companies to classify their workers as employees, rather than independent contracts. Changing how their employees are classified would have a profound impact on the companies’ and their bottom line, as they would have be required to withhold taxes and provide benefits.

    The companies tried fighting the legislation in court, but were unsuccessful. This left Proposition 22 as their best chance to continue operating in the state under their current business model.

    The ballot, which had the most expensive campaign of any ballot measure in California history, is poised to pass by a comfortable margin. The fight over gig workers has been closely watched across the country, and will likely help set a precedent for how these companies will continue to operate.

  • Doordash COO: Bringing The Entire Walgreens Store To Your Door

    Doordash COO: Bringing The Entire Walgreens Store To Your Door

    Doordash has announced that they have partnered with Walgreens to ultimately bring the entire Walgreens store to the door of 100 million Americans.

    Doordash COO Christopher Payne discusses their new Walgreens delivery collaboration and explains how this deal is part of their customer-centric focus which has driven the company’s growth from its founding:

    We Are Bringing The Entire Walgreens Store To Your Door

    Our new partnership with Walgreens is going to be fabulous. We have 2,300 items that will be available to the Doordash customer base. We cover about 100 million Americans. This will bring for the first time Walgreens products in over the counter medicine, grocery, and household items and other categories that are totally appropriate for this COVID crisis that we are in.

    While we are starting with 2,300 items we are going to rapidly grow that to 5,000 items, essentially bring the entire Walgreens store to your door on demand. That’s the key thing.

    With COVID We Shifted Into Going Beyond Restaurants

    One of the things we did with COVID is we shifted into going beyond restaurants and focused on empowering local economies by bringing other things that people want to be delivered into their home. Walgreens is a perfect example of that. We are going to ramp up to cover all of their stores over the coming months.

    That will touch 100 million Americans. That’s a huge announcement today and we are thrilled to be in a collaboration with Walgreens.

    Core To Us Is Listening To Our Customers

    One thing that is true of this space is that it has been competitive since day one. What sets Doordash apart is we are not focused on our competitors. We have been focused on our customers. That is one of the core values of Doordash and is one of the key reasons we have a market share lead in food delivery in the United States. We are going to continue to focus on that. Core to us is listening to our customers and being merchant first.

    Our original vision was to empower local economies. The idea is that we want to connect every local business to every local consumer. That’s a very different strategy than just broad ecommerce. That is making these businesses successful that are around you and me. That’s what sets Doordash apart and what will continue to set Doordash apart.

    We Are In The Early Days Of This Category

    We are in the early days of this category. We are not focused on what our competitors are doing. That is the right strategy for us. However, we won’t rule out potential acquisitions. We did a Caviar acquisition last last year that has gone incredibly well. Our focus has been on helping our merchants thrive. A great example of that is what has happened with COVID-19.

    We swung into action back in March and April and designed a program called Main Street Strong. This exemplifies what I mean by merchant first. We built a program that generated $120 million in relief for merchants to keep them on their feet.

    Doordash Restaurants 4-Times More Likely To Survive COVID

    One stat that I love to share is restaurants that were on Doordash during this crisis were four times more likely to make it through the first wave by being on the platform. That $120 million in relief took the form of commission and promotion to drive sales to small businesses. We will continue to focus on our customers, our merchants, and our Dashers and that is what is key right now. We are not going to be bothered by what other companies are doing.

  • In-N-Out Burger Is Suing Food Delivery Company DoorDash

    In-N-Out Burger wants food delivery startup DoorDash to stop delivering its food – and it has taken the matter to court.

    In-N-Out has filed suit against the startup for trademark infringement and “false designation of origin.”

    It appears that the meat of In-N-Out’s argument involves both the representation of its logo on the DoorDash site as well as concerns over the quality of the food once it arrives to someone’s door.

    From the lawsuit:

    Defendant’s use of Plaintiff’s famous trademarks implies that Defendant not only delivers In-N-Out products to its customers, but that the quality and services offered by Defendant is the same as if consumers had made purchases directly from Plaintiff. Upon information and belief, the quality of services offered by Defendant does not at all comport with the standards that consumers expect from Plaintiff’s goods and services. Further, Plaintiff has no control over the time it takes Defendant to deliver Plaintiff’s goods to consumers, or over the temperature at which the goods are kept during delivery, nor over the food handling and safety practices of Defendant’s delivery drivers. While Plaintiff adheres to the Food Code, on information and belief, Defendant does not adhere to such regulations, including with regard to compliance with required food safety and handling practices.

    Basically, In-N-Out thinks DoorDash is delivering an inferior product to customers.

    DoorDash, in a statement to the Wall Street Journal, says it “uses its innovative logistics technology to deliver the very best food and products in neighborhoods across the country. While we have various relationships with different merchants, we are proud to help people get their favorite food delivered directly to their door.”

  • Uber Isn’t the Only One Getting Sued over the ‘Employee or Contractor’ Issue

    Uber Isn’t the Only One Getting Sued over the ‘Employee or Contractor’ Issue

    With the rapid growth of the so-called ‘sharing economy’, one of the biggest issues has been whether or not workers for services like Uber and Lyft are employees of contractors.

    Uber’s stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    This has been met with numerous lawsuits and some unfavorable (for Uber, at least) rulings from regulatory bodies.

    But it’s not just Uber that’s facing lawsuit over the employee or contractor question.

    Food delivery services like GrubHub, Caviar, and DoorDash are now embroiled in a class action lawsuit of their own.

    And it’s the same lawyer that’s going after Uber in San Francisco.

    From the Chicago Tribune:

    The complaints were filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of the delivery drivers by Boston attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who is also representing plaintiffs in similar lawsuits against on-demand transportation companies Uber and Lyft. A federal judge in San Francisco certified the lawsuit against Uber for class action last month.

    The complaints filed against GrubHub and DoorDash are both class actions, while the Caviar complaint is a demand for arbitration on behalf of a San Francisco driver.

    Earlier this month, a court ruled the case against Uber could proceed as a class action.

    The lawsuit, which was filed in 2013 and fought by Uber all the way, questions the company’s classification of its drivers. The class of drivers says it should be considered employees, not contractors, which would entitle them to things like reimbursement of expenses, minimum wage, overtime pay, and more.

    A week later, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) ruled that a former Uber driver was in fact an employee, not a contractor. That’s not the first time a regulatory agency has done that.

  • Taco Bell Delivery Hits 90 Cities Through DoorDash Partnership

    Taco Bell knows you can’t get off the couch, and is getting serious about delivering you Crunchwraps.

    The restaurant is expanding its delivery service to 90 cities in the Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas regions. This will cover more than 200 stores.

    “Delivery is yet another example of how we’re using technology and innovation to respond to consumers’ wants and needs, further evolving the Taco Bell experience for customers. We were one of the first to redefine convenience at QSR with our mobile app, and knowing that delivery is the no. 1 request from our consumers, we see a tremendous opportunity to bring the Taco Bell experience to fans where and when they want it most,” says Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol. “Taco Bell has always been about value and convenience, and we believe delivery is the next step in catering to today’s on-demand culture that’s driving consumer behavior.”

    The whole thing is coming from a partnership with food delivery service DoorDash – and it’s a huge deal for the startup. Food delivery startups are always trying to link up with a huge, popular chain – you saw Postmates do it with Chipotle.

    Taco Bell and DoorDash will be continuing to work out the logistics, but for now it looks like DoorDash will charge a $4 delivery fee, with possible additional fees for individual meal items – so make sure you check everything out before you hit ‘complete order’.

    “We’re testing and learning at the speed of the on-demand economy,” says Tressie Lieberman, VP of Innovation and On Demand at Taco Bell. “We’re thrilled to partner with DoorDash and leverage their like-minded commitment to customer service and innovation. This partnership enables us to provide consistent quality service and the feedback we need to elevate the delivery experience and evaluate where Taco Bell delivery goes next.”.

    And where Taco Bell goes next is hopefully nationwide with this delivery scheme, according to the company.