DoorDash launches AI chatbot to suggest meals and streamline merchant

DoorDash has rolled out an AI‑powered chatbot called “Ask DoorDash” that helps customers choose restaurant meals, build grocery carts and, soon, make reservations, while simultaneously expanding a suite of AI tools for merchants to speed onboarding and improve menu visuals [2].

Key takeaways

• The Ask DoorDash chatbot can recommend dishes, add items to carts and confirm pantry staples, using voice, text or images [2].
• Early tests show users try new restaurants 50% more often and grocery baskets grow over 35% compared with standard orders [2].
• DoorDash’s merchant AI suite now includes self‑serve onboarding that cuts setup time by more than a third, AI photo editing, and AI‑generated websites that claim near‑10% conversion rates [1].
• The chatbot draws on models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and open‑source sources to keep costs down [2].

AI chatbot “Ask DoorDash” launches in the app

The new feature is accessed via an “Ask” button in the app’s search bar, where users can interact with the assistant through voice, typed prompts or images. The chatbot pulls from each customer’s purchase history and public sources such as social‑media reviews to suggest restaurants and grocery items. For grocery queries it first asks what staples the user already has before adding missing ingredients to the cart. Answers include tappable buttons that let shoppers add items instantly. DoorDash says the tool is currently available on iOS in select markets and will soon expand to more U.S. users and include reservation capabilities [2].

Co‑founder Andy Fang highlighted that the chatbot is already driving measurable gains: nearly half of takeout orders placed through the assistant are from restaurants the customer has never ordered from before, and grocery carts built with the tool are more than 35% larger than typical orders. Fang also noted that the company plans to license the technology to corporate partners, positioning DoorDash against rivals such as Instacart and Uber Eats [2].

Expanded AI toolkit for merchants

Alongside the consumer‑facing chatbot, DoorDash is enhancing its merchant platform with AI‑driven features aimed at reducing friction and boosting sales. A self‑serve onboarding experience claims to accelerate merchant activation by over 35%, automatically pulling photos, hours and menu items from a merchant’s existing website [1]. The Video Library lets eligible merchants upload and tag videos so customers can order directly from what they see, while AI photo tools—AI Retouch, AI Replate, and style matching—enable quick professional‑grade image upgrades across web, Android and iOS [1].

The DoorDash Commerce Platform now offers AI‑powered websites that can be generated in minutes using existing menu data, with DoorDash reporting average order conversion rates close to 10% [1]. An AI‑driven marketer tool automates email campaigns tied to occasions, helping merchants maintain customer contact without manual content creation [1].