DoorDash is pushing further into the business of automated delivery.
On Thursday, the delivery giant announced that it is partnering with Waymo to use the company’s self-driving taxis to make deliveries.
A test of the service is underway in Phoenix, with plans to expand that test later this year. It is starting with deliveries from DashMart, a convenience and grocery store operated by DoorDash. Waymo delivery could eventually extend to restaurants, a DoorDash representative said.
The partnership will also provide a perk for users of DashPass, DoorDash’s membership program. From now through the end of the year, DashPass members in LA, San Francisco and Phoenix can get $10 off one weekday Waymo ride per month.
Teaming up with Waymo is the latest piece in DoorDash’s plans to automate more deliveries using sidewalk robots, drones and its recently unveiled Dot robot. It’s all powered by the company’s new autonomous delivery platform that uses AI to dispatch orders to the best bot for the job.
In this case, it will use Waymo vehicles to deliver groceries and other retail products, which may be too large for a sidewalk bot or a drone to handle.
It follows a similar partnership between Uber Eats and Waymo that began in Phoenix last year. That program is specifically oriented toward restaurant delivery.
And it is clearly targeted at attacking one of Uber’s advantages over DoorDash, which is its ability to offer customers rides as well as food delivery. With Waymo, DoorDash is extending some ride-sharing benefits of its own, albeit for a limited time. DoorDash has also partnered with Lyft to give DashPass members discounted rides.
DoorDash believes automating some deliveries will be necessary to meet growing demand for the service. However, it said there will still be plenty of work to go around for its human couriers, who will be rewarded with more lucrative, long-distance orders while bots work in shorter sprints.
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the company that owns Google. Its vehicles currently operate in Phoenix, LA, San Francisco, where customers can hail a ride using the Waymo app. In Atlanta and Austin, Texas, Waymo rides are available via Uber. It will also launch soon in Miami and Washington, D.C. It has completed more than 10 million driverless rides, and its weekly trip volume has ticked up significantly this year.
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