Frequently Asked Questions

This guide will help you learn more about the platform and how to get started. If you're already a partner, get your questions answered at help.doordash.com.

Women at point of sale tablet front of house

General Information

DoorDash is a technology company that connects businesses with customers in their area. By facilitating delivery and pickup orders, DoorDash helps businesses reach new customers, increase brand awareness online, and ultimately grow.

Partner with DoorDash to drive more sales — on the app and through your own website. On the DoorDash app, use Delivery, Pickup, and DashPass to unlock the active (and hungry) DoorDash customer base. Grow your business on your own website with Storefront, which gets you direct, commission-free orders though your site, social media, and Google Search & Maps.

Get noticed by new customers and drive more orders with in-app ads and promotions. Ads (or Sponsored Listings) give you prime real estate in the DoorDash app so you get noticed by new customers. Promotions let you offer discounts or free items to encourage customers to place orders, and Storefront promotions use similar incentives to get customers to place commission-free orders directly on your website.

The easiest way to check if DoorDash is available in your area is to begin the self-signup process. If we do not service your area, we will notify you when that changes.

We’re proud to have rolled out a series of support initiatives to help our restaurant partners and the industry navigate the effects of COVID-19.

  • Launched #OpenForDelivery a campaign to let consumers know that restaurants are open, that delivery is safe, and that local businesses need their support more than ever.

  • Introduced Main Street Strong, a series of initiatives designed to help restaurants get back on their feet and accelerate into the new future.

  • Drove over 1 million incremental deliveries as part of our Local Restaurant Saturdays campaign in March.

  • Provided an alternative path to applying for a PPP loan through our partnership with BlueVine.

For details on these programs and their impact, read more at DoorDash Impact.

DoorDash reaches 94% of the US population, 80% of the Australian population, and 75% of the Canadian population, serving all provinces in Canada.

We truly value our partners, which is why we offer 24-hour support as well as resources to drive your growth, such as a free menu photoshoot and a variety of marketing promotions to get you in front of more customers. We also have a loyal base of customers on DashPass, our monthly subscription service.

Plus, DoorDash has an array of products for every restaurant need. On DoorDash Marketplace, you can offer pickup or delivery on the app or website. With Storefront, you can set up commission-free online ordering and offer pickup and delivery directly from your website. And with DoorDash Drive, you can offer delivery from your own app, website, or online ordering system by tapping into DoorDash’s network of Dashers.

Yes! We encourage merchants to try out our platform alongside others so you can compare which partner brings you the most orders and offers the best experience.

If you'd like to speak to a merchant sales representative, you can contact us online or call us Monday-Friday:

  • United States and Canada: 855-554-5779

  • Australia: 1800-717-576

Already a DoorDash merchant? Browse help.doordash.com for answers to your questions, explore the Learning Center, or call merchant support:

  • United States (English and Español): +1-855-222-8111

  • Canada (English): 647-957-7219

  • Canada (Français): 855-643-8439

  • Australia: 1800-958-316

  • New Zealand: +64-800-001-188

Delivery

Food delivery has been growing in popularity in recent years, and that trend is only accelerating.

According to the 2023 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends Report, 82% of US consumers order delivery more often or about the same as last year. Same-store orders on the DoorDash app or website continued to increase year-over-year in the US, Canada, and Australia.

And when it comes to looking for where to order, more consumers than last year turn to a food delivery app, first.

If you already have a delivery team, our Self-Delivery product allows you to list your restaurant on the DoorDash App while fulfilling deliveries in-house. You'll also have access to Dashers when and where you need them, so you can offer delivery when your team isn't available or outside of your team's delivery area.

With Self-Delivery, you can enjoy the marketing benefits of DoorDash at a reduced commission rate, without changing your operations.

There is not a standard delivery radius for merchants on DoorDash. The delivery radius is set by an algorithm based on how many Dashers are in your area and consumer demand. Plus and Premium members do get access to a larger delivery area than Basic, potentially reaching more customers.

We work hard to provide the best experience for our community of Dashers, customers, and merchants. All Dashers are 18 years or older and undergo a background check. We also provide details on how Dashers can navigate the app to complete deliveries, and we share tips from high-performing Dashers when they sign up.

As a merchant, you can rate your Dasher and each delivery experience in the Merchant Portal or Order Manager App. You can also block Dashers from delivering orders from your business if you do not want the Dasher to return to your store.

With this input from merchants, we can help ensure the best experience for our partners and consumers.

Products

Our flagship product is Marketplace. When you sign up for Marketplace, you get your business on the DoorDash app and introduce your store to active new customers in your area.

You can also get listed on the app with Self-Delivery, where you can pair your own team of drivers with Dashers.

With Storefront, get commission-free orders by letting customers order through your own channels.

Finally, with Drive, you can offer delivery to your customers while using your own app, website, or online ordering system. You can automate deliveries through your POS or request Dashers on demand when you need them.

Yes, DoorDash integrates with leading POS and technology solutions, including Toast, Square, Shift4 Payments, Deliverect, ItsaCheckmate and many more.

For more information, check out our Integrations page.

Merchants can rent a tablet from DoorDash for $6 per week in the US, $3 per week in Canada, and $0 per week in Australia.

If you rent a tablet from DoorDash, it will be an Android Social Mobile Rhino T8.

The following printers can be used with a DoorDash tablet and the Order Manager App.

  • Star Micronics TSP 654 (bluetooth)

  • Star Micronics TSP 143 (bluetooth)

Your orders will not print if you are using an unsupported printer model. Learn more about setting up your printer.

DoorDash considers a few factors that help determine a restaurant’s visibility in the app. These factors include, but aren’t limited to, efficient restaurant operations, positive customer ratings and reviews, cuisine types that match customer preferences, and consistent pricing between your in-store and DoorDash menus.

We take consistent pricing into consideration when determining when and where a store appears on the homepage. Restaurants that have consistent DoorDash and in-store prices provide customers with a more trustworthy and reliable experience, and therefore receive higher visibility in the app.

Helping merchants grow their businesses is essential to achieving our mission to empower local economies, and we’ve built DoorDash to be a partner and a catalyst for growth for local merchants of all kinds. A crucial part of helping partners generate steady sales growth is making sure that customers have a high-quality experience on the platform. We’re committed to delivering on our promise of introducing new customers to our partners and helping the 550,000+ merchants on our platform grow their online sales.

If your menu changes, you can easily use the "Menu Editor" tool in the Merchant Portal, adding new items, modifiers, and options, editing categories, prices, and names, temporarily deactivating items, removing items permanently, or updating modifier settings.

If you have a shared menu, or a menu that spans across multiple locations, you will only be able to make edits from an account with Admin or Manager access.

If you have trouble updating your menu, please see the "Help" section in the Merchant Portal to submit a request, and the Menu Specialist team will complete updates within 72 hours.

Please note: If your restaurant uses a POS integration, you will need to change your DoorDash menu directly from your POS system.

Yes, restaurants and alcohol retailers in certain locations can sell alcohol on DoorDash. Learn more about DoorDash alcohol delivery and see the full list of locations where alcohol delivery is currently available.

Merchants should consult their retail permit and local laws to confirm whether off-premise delivery is permitted, and if so, for what types of beverages and under what conditions.

Yes, DoorDash partners can pause orders at any time. If your restaurant uses a tablet, you can pause your store from collecting orders for a specific time period. You can also indicate that your store is busy, letting customers know to expect longer prep times.

Yes, you can set specific store hours to accept DoorDash orders in the Merchant Portal.

You can easily assign daily store hours to your menus (breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.). You can also set special hours for closures, special events, or holidays, and pause receiving orders within the "Business Hours" section of the Merchant Portal.

Pricing

When you list your business on DoorDash, you pay a percentage of the order subtotal  — known as a "commission rate" — for each order processed through our platform. 

DoorDash Drive connects your business with drivers to complete deliveries placed on your ordering platform. When customers order from your website, app, or other channels, we charge a flat per-order fee (not a commission percentage) for you to use Dashers to deliver orders.

While there is no activation fee to join Marketplace, we charge a commission rate, a percentage of the order subtotal, on all orders processed on the platform. Get started to understand your business's commission rate.

All partners on DoorDash also have access to Storefront, an online ordering system for your website. Orders from Storefront are commission-free, and there are no activation fees or monthly software fees.

DoorDash Drive connects your business with drivers to complete deliveries placed on your ordering platform. That means when customers order from your website, app, or other channels, we charge a flat per-order fee for you to use Dashers to deliver orders.

There are no monthly or annual software fees or activation fees to partner with DoorDash. Learn more about pricing.

DoorDash charges fees and commission rates to bring value to your business and community. Here are some of the items they cover:

  • Advertising and marketing: Being on the DoorDash app puts your business in front of new customers every day.

  • Delivery driver costs: We empower our community of Dashers, who make every delivery possible, by providing them flexible earning opportunities with competitive local pay, promotional pay, 24/7 support, third party insurance, and exclusive discounts. Learn more about the Dasher Community at Dasher Central.

  • Customer service and support for consumers, merchants, and Dashers: Customers, business owners, and Dashers all have unique needs that often need addressing immediately. When something goes wrong with an order, we have a 24/7/365 team of people ready to help solve customer issues, so they’ll continue to order from your business.

  • Technology platform costs: It takes a world-wide, world-class logistics, engineering, coding, marketing, and operations team to keep the DoorDash app and website, our Merchant Portal and tablet, and our Dasher app running. We hire the best and expect the best from our team.

  • Credit card processing: With the exception of Storefront (where you only pay a credit card processing fee* with no additional commissions, monthly fees or per-order fees), all DoorDash offerings include credit card processing, so you have less to worry about when it comes to overhead expenses.


*2.9% of the total transaction amount + $0.30 per order

Pricing plans differ based on the level of built-in marketing plans included.

The "Basic" including our core marketing tools (listing your business on the DoorDash app, discoverable in search, and featured in our algorithmic collections like "Fastest Near You" or "Local Favorites") at 15% delivery commission and 6% pickup commission with a 7-day free trial.

The "Plus" plan adds an expanded delivery area and DashPass, at 25% delivery commission and 6% pickup commission, with a 30-day free trial.

The "Premier" plan includes all of the benefits of "Plus" and a Growth Guarantee* at 30% delivery commission and 6% pickup commission, with a 30-day free trial.

All plans include Storefront, commission-free online ordering for your website.

Partnership Plans are available for restaurants with 75 or fewer locations in the US. 6% Pickup is available to all partners in the US who comply with the DoorDash Merchant Terms of Service, including having DoorDash Pickup menu prices match in-store prices.

Commission is a percentage of the order subtotal for each order processed through the DoorDash platform. DoorDash charges commission rates to bring value to your business and community; commissions cover advertising and marketing, delivery driver costs, customer service for consumers, merchants, and Dashers, technology platform costs, and more. Learn more about pricing.

*DoorDash "Premier" Growth Guarantee: Accept at least 20 orders per month or DoorDash will refund your commission costs for that month. Partners are eligible for this rebate only if (1) they cancel fewer than 5 orders that month and (2) maintain "open hours" on DoorDash for 90% of the Store Hours that they have set in the Merchant Portal. 

We encourage you to try a plan for 2-3 weeks, and if it’s not working for you, switch to a new plan. If you need help figuring out a solution that works for your needs, contact our Sales or Support team for a recommendation.

If you complete fewer than 20 orders in a month, we will refund your entire commission at the end of that month. To be eligible, you must:

  • Operate in the United States

  • Be "open" on DoorDash and accepting orders for at least 90% of the hours that are listed in your Merchant Portal as your store's "Open Hours"

  • Cancel fewer than 5 orders that month

We've listened to our partners and learned that the majority would like more choice and flexibility. We are giving partners the ability to choose the commission rate they pay and level of marketing that is built into their agreement. We know that each business is unique, and we want to help our partners find the right solution for their specific needs.

You can change your plan any time in the Merchant Portal. Plans may take 5 business days to process changes, so it is not feasible to change your plan more often than about one time per week.

We encourage merchants to try a plan for a minimum of 2-3 weeks before switching in order to get the most representative picture of how well each plan works for your business.

Yes, you can just change your Pickup rate. We’ve lowered Pickup pricing for all of our local partners from 15% commission to just 6% commission, inclusive of credit card costs.

To sign up for this new rate, go to the "Settings" section in your Merchant Portal. If you’re new to DoorDash, this will be your Pickup commission.

DoorDash does not charge an activation fee, subscription fee, software fee, cancelation fee, contract fee, or any hidden fees. However, certain fees may be applicable for additional products or services as you opt in, such as: 

  • If you choose to use the DoorDash Tablet to accept orders, you can use it for free for the length of your trial, then $6 per week in the US, $3 per week in Canada, and $0 per week in Australia and New Zealand. You can also accept orders via point of sale integrations, email, or fax at no cost to you.

  • Marketing fees if you choose to use Promotions or Sponsored Listings to grow your sales.

  • Payment processing fees only for Storefront orders, which are commission-free.

Card processing fees are not charged for merchants on Marketplace

Merchants using Storefront, our commission-free online ordering system for your own website, do pay credit card processing at 2.9% of the total transaction amount plus a $.30 charge per order.

Getting Started

Merchants are required to provide basic information about their business (e.g. business name, location, owner name) and their EIN to validate their entity. Merchants must also agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including labor, health, and safety laws, in all markets in which they operate. There is no minimum order amount or sales amount to remain a DoorDash partner, and merchants can cancel or change their partnership plan any time.

Businesses can sign up for DoorDash by completing this self-serve onboarding form or contacting sales, then sharing basic information about your business including your menu and items. Next, you'll set up how you’ll receive DoorDash orders (tablet or point of sale integration). An onboarding specialist will then contact you with instructions to begin receiving DoorDash orders.

Our sales team can help you setup multiple locations on DoorDash.

Please contact us or call Monday-Friday at (855) 554-5779 in the US and Canada, and (800) 717 576 in Australia and New Zealand. We’ll help you set up each location to receive DoorDash orders and give you admin access to see analytics for all of your locations.

When you sign up for DoorDash, you can choose your order protocol to determine where to receive orders.

Many businesses choose to use the DoorDash tablet for a weekly fee, but you can also choose to receive orders with one of our POS or aggregator integrations to have orders flow directly to your register or kitchen display system at no additional cost. You can also choose to receive orders via email or fax.

In the US and Canada, DoorDash Basic partners start with a 7-day free trial, and DoorDash Plus and Premier partners start with a 30-day free trial. This means delivery and pickup commissions are 0%, so you can try the partnership plan* that works best for you. Tablet fees are also $0 for the duration of the trial. After the trial, there is a weekly tablet fee of $6 in the US, $3 in Canada, and $0 in Australia. Point of sale integrations are free.

After your free trial, you’ll be enrolled at the commission and tablet fees indicated in your "Merchant Signup Sheet." 

You can change your plan at any point in your trial (and after your trial) within the Settings in the Merchant Portal.

*Partnership plans (Basic, Plus, Premier) are available for restaurants with 75 or fewer locations in Canada or the US.

Yes, you can opt out of your free trial at any time. Please reference this resource to learn more.

If you switch plans in the middle of your trial, your free trial ends, and you will be enrolled in your new plan, paying that plan’s commission rate, within the next 5 business days. If you do not want to end your free trial early, we suggest setting a calendar reminder and logging in to update your plan 5 or fewer days before your trial ends.

Merchant partners can either choose to receive a weekly direct deposit from DoorDash or opt in to daily payouts at no charge.