Yet another delivery service is rolling out to the Twin Cities.
The latest player is another Silicon Valley-based startup called DoorDash. It is already up and running in several other cities and has recently set up an office in the North Loop. It plans to launch its local restaurant delivery service starting in Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and Edina on June 24.
Its roll out comes on the heels of delivery service Postmates' arrival in the Twin Cities last month.
So how will DoorDash be different than the others in town offering similar services such as Bite Squad, Postmates, and GrubHub?
Fuad Hannon, a St. Paul native and general manager of the Minneapolis operation, said DoorDash uses smart algorithims to try to streamline the process and make it faster and cheaper for customers and more cost effective for local restaurants, too.
"At the heart of it, we're a technology company," he said, noting that the company has raised about $60 million in start-up financing.
Of course, we will have to wait and see how it really stacks up to the competition.
On the surface, DoorDash seems to be kind of a hybrid between Bite Squad and Postmates. Like Bite Squad, it partners with specific restaurants. And like Postmates, it has a smartphone app and uses an independent contractor model for its drivers and bikers similar to Uber.
Postmates will deliver anything from pretty much anywhere within its market. But DoorDash limits delivery to restaurants within about four miles in order to ensure better food quality when it arrives at your door, said Hannon.
DoorDash charges a delivery fee of $5 to $6. Menu prices could be the same or higher than the restaurant's in-store prices depending on DoorDash's agreement with those vendors. Some of the restaurants it is working with include Rusty Taco, Masu Sushi, Chino Latino and Holy Land.
As for the increasing number of competitors in this space in Minneapolis, Hannon said he's not worried about it becoming too crowded. After all, he said cities like New York and San Francisco have a lot more delivery options.
"It's about who can provide the best service to customers -- has the best on-time rates, the lowest delivery fees, the best merchant support, the best menu team," he said. "I'm super bullish on Minneapolis."
Over time, he said DoorDash plans to expand to the rest of the Twin Cities region. He promised St. Paul wouldn't have to wait too long.
And, yes, there will be some special perks at launch. The first 100 people to sign up on its website from the Twin Cities will get a $20 credit. And it will cut the delivery fee to $1 for your first delivery.
