DoorDash's Holiday Local Advertising Revealed
DoorDash's Holiday Local Advertising Revealed
Kitchen United shutters physical branches, DoorDash + Best Buy, repeat shopper value
Wow — huge news today. Not only have we sleuthed you out some competitive marketing intel, but Kitchen United is sending a shockwave across the already hurting world of ghost kitchens. Plus, Best Buy went live on DoorDash. Let’s get to it!
This week’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore’s 2-for-1 BFCM Sale.
Today:
Analyzing DoorDash’s Local Holiday Advertising Push
Kitchen United Closing All Food Halls
Chart Time | The Value of Repeat Customers
DoorDash Wires Up Best Buy Partnership
MARKETING | DoorDash’s Local Advertising Uncovered
We’ve got eyes everywhere! Check out Modern Delivery’s latest discovery — some of DoorDash’s local advertising material, two different flyers being distributed in the LA area. (Left photo is the front of the two flyers, right photo is their back.) In general both are pushing the same promo — 50% off an order of $10 or more, with a maximum discount of $15. (The good times really are over.) The variant on the left (LA-H) is all about the holidays, not just in imagery, but by pushing grocers and gifters on the back, plus noting the ways the platform gives back to the community by flagging the “doordashimpact.com” URL. The right variant (LA-F) is all about grubbing down before a big football game, noting chain restos like Wendy’s, Wingstop and Pizza Hut.
The Big Picture: Flyer distribution is handled by Oppizi, which also counts Uber Eats and Just Eat as clients, and has also worked with mobility brands like Freenow and DiDi, as well as food retailers like Eataly and Big Mamma. The amount of multivariant testing on these ads is remarkable, almost to the degree you’d expect from a digital advert: not just the focus of the ad (holiday vs sports) but the phrasing of the discount, whether the basic “how-to” is explained, and even which format is used for the expiration date.
PARTNER | Two for One Tickets to Curbivore - $49.50 Each!
It’s only appropriate we offer our own Cyber Week deal… two for one tickets to our acclaimed industry conference, Curbivore. That means each ticket is just $49.50, more than 90% off the day-of price. Curbivore brings together speakers like LA Mayor Garcetti, Uber’s Head of Grocery + Retail Fulfillment Product David Meers, Walmart’s VP Nav Chadha, Kitchen United’s CEO Michael Montagano, Wonder Co-Founder Chad Lore, Restaurant Insider’s Nancy Luna, SFMTA Streets Director Tom Maguire, Sweetfin Co-Founder Seth Cohen, JOKR Co-Founder Aspa Lekka, Automotus CEO Jordan Justus, Snackpass Co-Founder Kevin Tan, Serve Co-Founder MJ Chun, Red Robin CEO Denny Post, ChowNow CEO Chris Webb, Zoomo CEO Mina Nada, Virtual Dining Concepts VP Kelly Grogan, and many more in Downtown Los Angeles, March 28 & 29.
GHOST KITCHENS | Kitchen United to Shutter All Food Halls
Just a few days ago, Kitchen United CEO Atul Sood was saying he didn’t want to be “branded as a ghost kitchen.” At the time it seemed he was simply lamenting the industry terminology, but it’s now clear he meant something even bigger: the company is shutting down every one of its physical outposts. That includes all of its Kroger in-grocer locations, as well as its outposts in NYC (sold a few months ago to Nimbus Kitchens) and Austin (to ChefSuite,) eighteen in all.
The Big Picture: The Pasadena, CA-based company is pivoting to being a software player, licensing the tech it used to run its restos. In a way, that’s not too different from what happened to Nextbite / Ordermark, where the Alex Canter-helmed company split up its physical locations from its software arm; but the fire sale prices it fetched aren’t exactly a big endorsement for the model. Kitchen United’s play is even less expected, given that a big chunk of the $100M it raised last year came from Kroger, and it was working with mall giant Simon on more physical locales. As recently as October, Sood was crowing that “There is so much opportunity in retail and grocery.” Guess things change fast!
CHART TIME | Recurring Customers Are The Best Customers
An elucidating new chart from Brick Meets Click hammers home something important: not only do recurring shoppers shop more often (duh,) they also shop for more on each trip. Perhaps slightly counterintuitive, but it hammers home how important those key shoppers are, and why brands need to own the relationship with them (first party, first party, first party!)
3PD | DoorDash’s Gadget Friendly New Partner: Best Buy
Third party delivery giant DoorDash announced its first national consumer electronics brand partner — Best Buy. The Minnesota-based retailer, which has over 1,100 units in the U.S., is now live on the shopping platform, and celebrating the deal with $15 off orders of $55 (and an extra $10 of savings for DashPass members.) A glance at a storefront landing page shows a big emphasis on Apple products, mobile accessories and headphones.
The Big Picture: Best Buy has had a partnership with Instacart since 2020; that storefront shows a merchandising mix oriented more around streaming sticks and smart home devices. It’s become a real retailer arm’s race, with Instacart launching its partnership with JD Sports & Finish Line yesterday, and Uber going live with Big Lots the week prior. As we noted when Instacart partnered with Kiehl’s, it seems the 3PDs (with the exception of poor Grubhub) are trying to reach Amazon-like scale. But until they improve search and storefronts, knowing that you can get an Apple accessory to accompany your fruits & veggies order is unnecessarily complex. And a quick perusal of Best Buy’s site, as well as major brand partners available from the retailer, shows no mention of the new storefront — meaning any incremental sales will have to happen in-app.
A Few Good Links
DoorDash brings DeliverZero reusable containers to LA. DP Eurasia (Domino’s in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia) bought out by Jubilant Foodworks. Apple ending credit card relationship with Goldman Sachs. Will this new battery tech revolutionize charging? FedEx, UPS battle for returns. Fast casualer Modern Market Eatery opens first drive-thru. Small town folk angered that USPS prioritizes Amazon over regular mail. BNPL may boost loyalty. Flock Freight pens open letter to DOT’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. Black Friday disappoints at Best Buy, Express. Walmart creates supplier platform. Crumbl removes cookie from logo. Today in novelty: McD’s unveils latest streetwear collaborator, Subway intros footlong cookie. Cousins Maine Lobster adds five trucks in IL, White Castle expands in AZ. Uber sustainability update. Holiday delivery expected to release 32 million tons of CO2.
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