DoorDash Builds on Pandemic Gains in 2021

Despite the fact that restaurants reopened in 2021 and millions of Americans returned to dining out, food delivery market leader DoorDash kept its pandemic gains and even managed to build on them. The company that went public amid the Covid-19 crisis in December 2020 reported another 70 percent jump in gross order volume on its marketplace, defying fears that the boost provided by restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders in 2020 could be short-lived.

During the pandemic, DoorDash not only profited from diners and restaurants shifting to food delivery, but doubled-down on its strong position by expanding into other fields, including grocery and alcohol deliveries. That way, DoorDash hopes to create more reasons to interact with its platform and subsequently increase order volume across all categories.

Looking ahead, DoorDash expects to continue growing its gross order volume, albeit at a slower pace than in the past two years. For the full year 2022, the company expects order volume between $48 and $50 billion, up from $42 billion last year. “We continue to believe the transition to omni-channel local commerce is in its early innings and we are just beginning to build the platform we envision,” the company writes in its latest shareholder letter. “While we are the leader in the restaurant category in the U.S., we see significant room for growth within this category and even more in our newer categories.”