DoorDash Tests Text Ordering, Drone Delivery and Courier Returns
DoorDash will let customers order by text message, search nearby restaurants, build a suggested cart and check out inside the thread. The company described the feature as part of a broader set of ordering and logistics updates The Verge.
The text ordering feature is in preview and not yet available. iPhone users in the US can join a waitlist to try it in beta. No public release date has been announced.
The setup skips the usual app storefront. A customer types a request in a chat, DoorDash replies with nearby options, suggests items and takes payment in the same thread. It is conversational commerce, buying through chat. The system must work out what the customer means, match it to menus and hours, and remember the cart across messages.
DoorDash will also start its first DoorDash Air drone delivery pilot in northern California. Local outlets including Chipotle and Popeyes will take part. The pilot is the first live operation for its in-house drone program.
That program follows approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. DoorDash said in July it had become a certified air carrier, cleared to run its own commercial drone service DoorDash, a status also reported by Reuters. The company is building its own aircraft and has approval to fly them commercially Bloomberg.
The limits are physical. DoorDash says about 80% of typical restaurant orders are light and small enough for its aircraft to carry safely. Early tests showed drone orders reaching customers within five minutes.
Five minutes is much faster than a standard courier trip. It points to short flights from restaurant to customer, where size and weight decide what qualifies. The 80% figure sets the share that could use drones. Heavier orders stay with ground couriers.
DoorDash will expand its retail returns feature across the US in November. Customers will be able to pay a courier to return items to local stores.
The price is $7.99 per scheduled return. A courier picks up the eligible item at the door, with no box or shipping label needed, and brings it to the store for processing.
That removes two common hassles, printing a label and finding a box. The courier handles the first leg of the return, handing the item to the retailer instead of the parcel system. Which stores and items qualify was not detailed.
The broader context here is one company handling ordering, delivery and returns in the same network. Texting lowers the effort to start an order. Drones shorten delivery for certain meals. Courier returns finish the job for local retail. Each tackles a different bottleneck, finding food, travel time and handling after purchase.
In my view, the hurdles split by product. Text ordering needs accurate matching of a typed request to the right menu item and reliable checkout. Drones need airspace approval, weight limits and quick turnaround. Returns need store systems for refunds and proof of handoff. Returns look most ready to scale because they reuse the existing courier network, while text and drones need more tuning. The long-term direction is less friction per order, which makes these tests useful to follow.
