Doordash uses AI to speed merchant onboarding and edit dish photos
▼ Summary
– DoorDash added AI tools for merchants to speed up onboarding by automatically fetching listing info from a merchant’s website.
– A revamped video library lets merchants tag dishes in videos for direct ordering and provides performance stats like total views and sales.
– New photo editing tools include AI Retouch for background and lighting fixes, and AI Replate to make dishes look professionally plated.
– Merchants can now create websites from existing DoorDash content, with test results showing nearly 10% average order conversion rates.
– A new marketing campaign builder automates content creation, email outreach, and scheduling for merchants.
DoorDash has introduced a suite of AI-powered tools designed to streamline merchant onboarding, enhance dish photography, and simplify website creation. The updates, announced Monday, aim to reduce friction for restaurant partners while improving their digital presence.
The new onboarding tool functions much like a similar feature Amazon rolled out in 2024. Merchants simply point the tool to their existing website, and it automatically extracts key details such as photos, store hours, and menu items to generate a listing on DoorDash. Business owners can then review and adjust all pulled information before making the listing live.
The company has also overhauled its video library. Now, merchants can tag specific dishes within videos, allowing customers to click and order those items directly. The library provides analytics including total views, sales generated from video content, and new customer acquisition metrics.
For photography, two AI editing tools are now available. AI Retouch enhances images by replacing backgrounds, sharpening details, and optimizing lighting without altering the actual dish. AI Replate goes further, manipulating food photos to appear professionally plated by adjusting lighting and color. Merchants can also upload a reference image to apply a specific visual style to their existing photos.
“At DoorDash, we’re constantly building tools to help merchants succeed, from their very first day on the platform, to every order after,” said Brian Tolkin, head of merchant product at DoorDash, in a statement. “These new tools reflect our belief that the right technology should remove friction, not add it, so merchants can focus on what they do best: making great food and delivering incredible customer experiences.”
The platform is also expanding its commerce capabilities. Restaurant owners can now create a full website using existing DoorDash content, including menu items and photos. During testing, merchants using this feature saw order conversion rates averaging nearly 10%.
Additionally, DoorDash launched a marketing campaign builder that automates content creation, email outreach, and scheduling, helping merchants maintain a consistent promotional presence without manual effort.
(Source: TechCrunch)
