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Previously delivery drivers were hired for and delivery offered on a per restaurant basis. We had couriers for general delivery but they were niche specialty p

Previously delivery drivers were hired for and delivery offered on a per restaurant basis. We had couriers for general delivery but they were niche specialty providers. Doordash separated delivery from the restaurants and provided a means of tapping into their market. See also Instacart.

ricardobeat 2y ago
What is new about it though? This model is common, Takeaway.com (EU) was founded in the year 2000. IIRC Instacart's disruptive idea was to deliver groceries, not restaurant orders, they pivoted later to survive.
- throwway120385 2y ago
  Doordash's disruptive idea was to entirely capture the experience of ordering from the restaurants, up to and including registering websites for the restaurants and pretending like they had an agreement with each restaurant on their listing. At one point if you placed a Doordash order there were some restaurants they would just place a call to and then have a driver pick up from there like it was an individual order.
  - ricardobeat 2y ago
    This is precisely what Takeaway / Thuisbezorgd does, except in a fully legal way. It's also how online delivery services operate in South America, most small restaurants never had a website or their own delivery (except for pizza places). Maybe it was disruptive in the context of the USA. Or, maybe it comes down to simply having a ton of funding to operate at a loss until you clear out the entire market for yourself? Similar to what Uber did.
    - erikerikson 2y ago
      The original post I replied asked specifically about the US. Living primarily in the US I've never heard of takeaway.com though from living in the UK the lingo is familiar. You're not wrong that a lot of company growth is fueled by VCs subsidizing to try and create effective monopoly. So too that many companies use legal gray areas (or not so gray) to try and further bolster competitive advantage.

ricardobeat 2y ago

What is new about it though? This model is common, Takeaway.com (EU) was founded in the year 2000. IIRC Instacart's disruptive idea was to deliver groceries, not restaurant orders, they pivoted later to survive.

throwway120385 2y ago
Doordash's disruptive idea was to entirely capture the experience of ordering from the restaurants, up to and including registering websites for the restaurants and pretending like they had an agreement with each restaurant on their listing. At one point if you placed a Doordash order there were some restaurants they would just place a call to and then have a driver pick up from there like it was an individual order.
- ricardobeat 2y ago
  This is precisely what Takeaway / Thuisbezorgd does, except in a fully legal way. It's also how online delivery services operate in South America, most small restaurants never had a website or their own delivery (except for pizza places). Maybe it was disruptive in the context of the USA. Or, maybe it comes down to simply having a ton of funding to operate at a loss until you clear out the entire market for yourself? Similar to what Uber did.
  - erikerikson 2y ago
    The original post I replied asked specifically about the US. Living primarily in the US I've never heard of takeaway.com though from living in the UK the lingo is familiar. You're not wrong that a lot of company growth is fueled by VCs subsidizing to try and create effective monopoly. So too that many companies use legal gray areas (or not so gray) to try and further bolster competitive advantage.