If you are a dedicated DoorDash user or even a periodic one, you may have noticed a DashMart feature on the app.
DashMart is a new service offered along with DoorDash, right in their app.
While the grocery delivery industry is booming due to the pandemic and a general lack of free time on the average worker’s part, not too many people are aware of DashMart.
If you’re just hearing about it now, you probably have a few questions about how the service operates and why you should use it.
To get the big picture of DashMart, read this informative guide that answers common questions about the service.
Table Of Contents
What Is DashMart by DoorDash?
DashMart by DoorDash is a grocery and convenience delivery service.
Similar to Uber’s Cornershop, you can order fresh produce, local favorites, and plenty of convenience items like toothpaste or paper towels.
You can compare this new service to existing services like Instacart, Amazon Fresh, or any delivery services offered by grocery stores.
The main differences are DashMart’s convenience, speed, and offerings.
They go beyond just grocery store items and offer local favorites to help local businesses reach more customers.
DashMart came to fruition in 2020, and it has been steadily taking hold in the grocery delivery industry ever since.
In their rise, the company uses this service to make even more money than they already are.
While the service still trails behind other grocery delivery services in popularity, they offer extra benefits and items that could easily draw people to their service.
Is DashMart a Real Store?
No, DashMart is not real in the sense that you can visit one and make in-person purchases.
The items sold through DashMart are only available for delivery through the DoorDash app, just how you would order food from a restaurant.
DashMart is an actual online store, so you can shop the same way you might if you visited a store in-person.
The point of DashMart is to offer convenient grocery delivery, so there is no reason for them to maintain and operate in-person locations for customers.
Is DashMart a Physical Location?
Yes, DashMarts are real places that hold thousands of convenience items.
Companies like InstaCart do not have their own locations or products but simply act as shoppers for their customers.
InstCart shoppers purchase items directly from grocery and convenience stores.
But DashMart has physical locations that are essentially warehouses where they fulfill the orders.
This system works similarly to Amazon Fresh, where items are packed at the fulfillment locations and then picked up by delivery drivers, also called Dashers.
These micro-fulfillment centers play a huge role in the speed at which the orders are completed.
If the Dashers had to drive around to different locations to pick up all of the ordered items, they would likely complete deliveries after several hours rather than several minutes.
The fulfillment centers also take a lot of the pressure off the Dashers, who only need to drive the deliveries and have nothing to do with packing the order.
How Does DashMart Work?
DashMart is an online store you can find within the DoorDash app, usually at the top as a promotion.
Once you place an order, the micro-fulfillment centers begin packing it, and then a Dasher picks up the order and brings it to you. It’s that simple!
Select the items you want to be delivered, from dog food to bananas.
The best part about DashMart is that they offer 30-minute delivery, so you can get your groceries incredibly quickly.
While InstaCart usually delivers within an hour, it isn’t available as much as DashMart.
What Does DashMart Offer Customers?
DashMart products are plentiful, offering fresh produce like avocados, apples, oranges, tomatoes, and practically any product you find at your average grocery store.
They also sell toiletries like hand soap, shower gels, toothpaste, toilet paper, and more.
They have an array of medicines you can order like Nyquil, Mucinex, Tylenol, Vitamin C packets, and even pregnancy tests.
Nearly everything you can pick up in a grocery or convenience store is available on DashMart.
The most notable item unavailable is any kind of liquor, beer, or wine, which some view as standard grocery store items.
But most national brands are available.
What makes DashMart stand apart from plain old grocery stores is that they offer local favorites from restaurants nearby.
They do this through being merchant partners with the local businesses, helping to support the community while bringing people the food they want in the most convenient way.
In Denver, the popular ice cream location Little Man sells pints via DashMart.
A beloved Denver BBQ spot, Brother’s BBQ, sells its famous BBQ sauce through the online store.
An iconic NYC bagel spot in Chicago sells bags of their bagels through DashMart, a dream for Chicagoans.
Where Is DashMart Available?
As of 2023, DashMart is available in fourteen major cities across the US.
Because this is a new endeavor for the food delivery company, they decided to start small in densely-populated locations to see how the online store performed.
However, they have already expanded their market, as they started in just eight cities.
If you live in the following locations, DashMart is likely available to you:
- Denver
- Chicago
- San Diego
- Sacramento
- Redwood City, CA
- Phoenix and the Greater Metropolitan
- Baltimore
- Concord, CA
- New York City
- Dallas
- Salt Lake City
- San Francisco
- Cincinnati
- Columbus
- Minneapolis
The pandemic significantly contributed to the success of DashMart, and Doordash plans to expand the virtual convenience store further, reaching more major US stories.
What Are DashMart’s Hours?
DashMart doesn’t have hours because it is a 24-hour convenience service.
One of the benefits of a service like DoorDash is they have many employees, some of whom prefer to work graveyard shifts, allowing the store to operate all the time.
Their 24/7 service gives the online store a massive leg up on traditional grocery stores.
Companies like InstaCart and AmazonFresh can’t compete with this convenience, as they may take more than 24 hours for delivery or need to wait for grocery stores to be open.
Can I Contact DashMart If I Need Help?
It depends on what you are calling about, but DoorDash is generally very responsive to customer service requests.
DashMart doesn’t seem to have its own customer service companies, but you can direct questions and concerns to the DoorDash customer service line.
As for merchants and Dashers, there are separate service lines to help with issues.
It is unlikely a customer service representative will have answers to questions about specific products available in the fulfillment enters or the quality and condition of these items.
By this, we mean they likely can’t tell you the expiration date of the gallon of milk you ordered or how ripe the bananas available are.
Since DashMart is now in its second year of operations, they have likely smoothed out wrinkles in their service operations.
But two years old makes it a still relatively new company, and there may be some issues.
Final Thoughts
So far, DashMart has proved to be an excellent service that gets people stuck at home with their groceries and local restaurant favorites quickly and conveniently.
The service has some steep competition in the grocery delivery market, and many other companies have established themselves well.
From the 24-hour service to the 30-minute delivery, DashMart and DoorDash prioritize convenience and speed over everything.
And they step up their inventory by including local favorites while simultaneously uplifting local restaurants and shops.
