Quick Overview

  • DoorDash announced on Thursday the launch ofa conversational shopping assistantthat builds shopping carts based on customers' descriptions of the items they need.
  • With this new tool called"Ask DoorDash", grocery shoppers can also input recipe links, cookbook photos, or images of shopping lists to receive shoppable grocery carts.
  • DoorDash said this new feature will reduce the hassle of building shopping carts for e-commerce customers.

Deep Insights

DoorDash is launching this new conversational commerce tool as retailers and e-commerce suppliers shift towardagentic AIto address pain points in online grocery shopping.

DoorDash customers can enter phrases such as "healthy dinner for four, under $40, no salad or chicken" to receive personalized purchase recommendations.

When providing recommendations from cookbook photos, Ask DoorDash prompts users to check whether they have essential ingredients (such as butter or salt) needed for the recipe, helping them avoid buying items they already own.

DoorDash noted that once shoppers receive a personalized shoppable cart, they can swap brands. Users can also prompt Ask DoorDash to reorder their last cart, purchase frequently bought products, and recommend new items based on past purchases.

For restaurant users, DoorDash said the new tool makes it easier to build carts based on dietary preferences, budget, group size, or suggestions from past orders.

DoorDash pointed out that Ask DoorDash relies on merchants' inventory data for restaurant and grocery items to help determine its responses. DoorDash said this is important because data such as menus, prices, hours, delivery distance, and inventory changes rapidly.

According to the announcement, Ask DoorDash is currently available on Apple smartphones in select parts of the U.S. for restaurant search and grocery shopping, and will roll out to DoorDash Reservations (an upcoming feature that will recommend restaurants) and more U.S. users in the coming weeks.

AI-driven grocery shopping is still in a very early stage. According toAstraWorks' benchmark report, Amazon currently has the most advanced capabilities, while many mainstream grocers rely on third-party companies like Instacart to connect agentic shopping agents such as ChatGPT.