DoorDash is looking to become a more central part of consumers’ lives, driving on-demand delivery outside of meal occasions. On Friday (Sept. 16), the aggregator announced a partnership with retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods just one day after discount retailer Big Lots announced its partnership with the aggregator Thursday (Sept. 15).
Through the sporting goods partnership, the aggregator will deliver sports equipment and other items from more than 700 of the retailer’s 850 stores across the country.
“With the start of fall sports top of mind for parents, it’s the ideal time to help students access their sporting goods on-demand,” Shanna Prevé, vice president of business development at DoorDash, said in a statement. “DoorDash helps retailers of all sizes use technology to serve consumers’ needs for convenience and ease, and we look forward to teaming up with DICK’S to grow their digital offerings.”
The Big Lots partnership, for its part, offers delivery from more than 1,400 of the closeout retailer’s stores across the country in an effort to woo price-conscious consumers.
“We know convenience and affordability remain top of mind for consumers,” said Prevé. “Our Big Lots offering helps shoppers who are looking for ways to maximize their budgets while still getting the items they need fast at an exceptional value.”
Read more: Big Lots Partners With DoorDash to Meet Consumer Demand for Delivery
The news comes amid significant consumer interest in on-demand delivery. About one in three consumers now order from eCommerce sites for same-day delivery, according to research from the July edition of PYMNTS’ ConnectedEconomy™ series, “ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report: The Rise Of The Smart Home,” which draws from a May survey of nearly 2,700 U.S. consumers.
Related news: New Data Shows Convenience Drove Smart Home Upgrades for 83M Consumers in 2022
The study found that 33% of those surveyed had ordered products online from a same-day delivery website such as Shipt in the previous month, and of those, more than two-thirds did so at least once a week.
In addition to growing its nonfood presence, DoorDash has also been expanding its offerings outside of the restaurant category with the addition of new grocers to its marketplace, announcing partnerships in the last month or so with Grocery Outlet and The Raley’s Companies.
With these category expansions, DoorDash is taking advantage of the opportunity to deepen its relationships with consumers by having a hand in more parts of their daily lives. PYMNTS research finds that top-performing brands are those that can engage with consumers across the pillars of the connected economy — how they work, pay and are paid, shop, eat, bank, travel, connect with others, have fun, stay well and live. With partnerships such as these, DoorDash takes part in not only how they eat but also how they shop, how they stay well and how they have fun.
See also: How Consumers Live in the Connected Economy
Moreover, with the high cost of the delivery model for the aggregator, driving volume is key, such that creating additional use cases can only improve the aggregator’s margins, especially those use cases that drive sales outside of peak mealtimes.
As DoorDash CEO Tony Xu told analysts on a call last month, “The greatest privilege that we have in this business is that people eat 20 to 25 times a week, and they shop even more times than that on top of that when you consider their nonfood spend.”
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