McDonalds Partners with Doordash - Sorry Uber Eats

For the past couple of years, McDonald's delivery was associated with Uber Eats. That is because Uber Eats was the exclusive delivery partner for the giant fast-food chain. McDelivery was a service that only Uber Eats provided. McDonald's advertised it on television commercials. Signs and posters could be seen at McDonald's restaurants. Heck, at some locations you would even see the McDonald's workers hats and uniforms advertising Uber Eats delivery. It seemed like a match made in heaven, and nobody was going to break up this partnership. That is until Doordash came in and has now also officially partnered with McDonald's!

McDonald's, for their own reasons, has decided to end its exclusive deal with Uber Eats. Earlier this year, it had been reported that McDonald's wanted to renegotiate the terms of their contract with Uber Eats. It was speculated that McDonald's wanted to lower the commission fee that Uber Eats was charging, but since this new deal with Doordash has happened we can assume that McDonald's was not happy with what Uber was offering them.

This does not mean that McDonald's will not be available to Uber Eats customers anymore. Things will be same as they have always been, but there is a new player in town, and this player is ready to take a good chunk of Uber Eats business. By adding another delivery partner, McDonald's has officially ended their exclusive deal with Uber Eats.

 

When does all this Doordash and McDonald's partnership begin?

There's not going to be Doordash banners popping up at every McDonald's around the country tomorrow. Things take time. Surely there is going to be strategic marketing and promotions by Doordash to let the world know that they are now partnered with McDonald's, but just like everything else, things take time.

On July 29, Doordash will officially be in partnership with McDonald's as they will offer McDelivery with over 200 locations in the Houston, TX area. From there, things will spread to the rest of the country. With Doordash being available in all 50 states, it should not be long before almost everybody in the United States has access to Doordash McDelivery.

Will it benefit McDonald's to partner with Doordash?

McDonald's joins the likes of many other restaurants by using multiple food delivery services. Most merchants do not get into an exclusive agreement with a delivery partner. Most restaurants partner with at least a couple of them. Some merchants even partner with four, five or even more delivery companies. Nobody can ever go wrong with diversity.

The giant chain may benefit as they will receive top notch promotions from the Doordash app. McDonald's already has the Uber Eats audience, now they will also have the Doordash crowd. That is not to say that the Doordash crowd, or anybody else out there did not know about McDonalds already, but for regular Doordash users to see a McDonald's banner regularly on the app will convert into lots of sales. This is great for McDonalds!

Also, we do not know about the deal that McDonald's and Doordash put together. Could it be much better than what Uber Eats was willing to offer? In case you don't know, these delivery apps charge partnered merchants a certain percentage of whatever the sales are. Typical agreements are between 15 and 30 percent with most agreements ranging between the 20 and 25 percent mark.

 

Let's give an example here to see how the commissions work with a 25 percent agreement. If a merchant sells $10,000 of food in a month from a certain partner, the partner will take $2,500. Using the same $10,000 of monthly sales, let's say a delivery partner charged 15 percent. Instead of taking a $2,500 cut, they would instead take a $1,500 cut. These numbers are very important as merchants have to figure out their profitability after paying out commissions to delivery companies such as Doordash and Uber Eats.

I have used a small number here, but the difference in the percentage paid out is a very big deal. Many merchants will take in hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in a given month. The more they take in, the more they will have to pay the delivery companies. Just a one percent difference can mean a lot of money. Again, nobody knows the deal that McDonald's made with Doordash, but I would personally assume it was better than what Uber Eats put on the table.

Does it really matter now that Doordash is partnering with McDonald's?

This really depends on who you are talking about. For Doordash as a company, this is a major plus. To partner with one of, if not the top fast food retail chain in the world is a major hit. To be honest, it is a grand slam. You better bet that Doordash investors are celebrating this deal. If all goes well, the cash revenue that Doordash takes in from McDonald's sales should be astronomical.

Also, I am not sure how all of this is going to work, but if Doordash gets branding stickers on the McDonald's bags and things of the such it will be sweet for them. When I pick up McDonald's orders for Uber Eats, the brown bags that they use for the customer's orders are branded with the Uber Eats logo. Then they shut the bag with Uber Eats stickers which make them tamper proof. If these are ripped then a customer might think that you messed with their food. Also, when picking up Uber Eats orders from McDonald's, the food is ready 90 percent of the time. There is hardly any waiting around, and if you do have to wait it is usually just a few minutes. If all of this happens the same way for Doordash orders it will be great for Doordash.

In case you didn't know - Doordash has always delivered McDonald's

I really don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but I have probably done at least 100 Doordash pick ups at McDonalds restaurants before. Of course, McDonald's has never been a Doordash partnered restaurant before, but do you really think that Doordash was not going to include McDonald's on their list of merchants to order food from?

McDonald's has always been offered on the Doordash platform. As a Doordash driver, all I had to do was treat McDonald's just like any other non-partnered merchant. I would place the customer's order myself, receive the food and then deliver it. Sure, there was no branded bags or tamper proof tape. The food came in a bag just like any other customer would receive, but surely Doordash customers were still happy with their McDelivery.

 

 

Is Doordash partnership with McDonald's good for dashers?

Anytime there is an opportunity for more calls, it is a good thing for dashers. If it brings more business to Doordash drivers, no driver is ever going to complain. If things go as Doordash plans, there should be a lot of business from McDonald's which means a ton of calls for dashers.

As a Doordash driver, it will also be good to not have to place a customer's order at McDonald's. With Uber Eats, you just tell McDonald's that you are here for so and so, and then they will hand you the food and drinks. If it is going to be like this with Doordash, it is definitely going to be a plus for dashers. Things will be much quicker, and as all dashers know, time is money. We don't get paid by the hour so we want to get in and out of a merchant ASAP and deliver the food ASAP so that we can move on to our next call. Overall, this Doordash-McDonald's partnership should benefit Doordash drivers.

Is Doordash partnership with McDonald's good for customers?

I have heard about app loyalty, but I believe that may be nothing but a fairy-tale. I am sure that there is a very small percentage of loyal customers to a particular app, but generally, I don't think that anybody has loyalty to Doordash, Uber Eats, Postmates, Caviar, Grub Hub or any of the other apps. Sure, a customer may pledge their alliance to a particular app and say that their app is cheaper and better than the others, but it's amazing how you can talk to that same person six months later, and they will now swear that one of the other apps is better for whatever reason.

 

With that said, I do believe that Doordash customers will benefit from the partnership. This is assuming that Doordash pick-ups from McDonald's will mimic the way Uber Eats pick-ups have always been. If this is the case, Doordash customers will receive a tamper free bag that I have always liked delivering with Uber Eats.

Doordash customers will really enjoy the fact that their McDonald's bags are secure and tamper proof. With Uber Eats, the drinks are even securely wrapped in paper bags, and we are assuming that it will be this way for Doordash customer's also. When my family members order McDonald's, they have always used Uber Eats due to the professional and secure packaging of the food and drinks. With Doordash, or any other app, you would have to worry about a driver tampering with your food. I am confident that Doordash will receive the same professional treatment from McDonald's that Uber Eats has received. If that is indeed the case, Doordash customers will be very happy about the Doordash-McDonald's partnership.