DoorDash's Harshit Agarwal Talks Unified Search & Discovery
Last call for speaker and workshop applications
Last call! Friday’s the last day to submit applications to speak, panel, or lead a workshop at Curbivore 2025. We’ve still got a little room left for industry leaders, thoughtful topics and hands-on learning. Submit your idea today!
Third party delivery has been on an interesting evolution over the past few years: what started as a way to get restaurant meals brought to you grew into a way to also get your groceries dropped off. Now the shift has gone ever further, with retailers of all sizes and stripes — Lowe’s, CVS, PetSmart, Sephora, Target — all jockeying for attention inside the apps. While that’s a boon for time-starved consumers (and the bain of every traffic engineer) it also means that the 3PDs are becoming more Amazon-like, with a bunch of identical, fully commoditized SKUs all fighting for your dollars with little to differentiate themselves besides price. The pad thai at Pa Ord is definitely different than the dish served at Farmhouse Kitchen (and it attracts a different customer type too,) and you could argue that the produce at an H-Mart or Whole Foods isn’t the same as what you’ll get at a Kroger or Albertsons; but a jug of Tide is going to be the exact same whether it’s sourced from a big box store, home improvements retailer, a Mexican grocer, an overly ambitious liquor shop, a pharmacy or even the 3PD-owned dark store.
From a consumer perspective, that requires an entirely different search and discovery process. You don’t want to scroll through every store’s results to find an identical needle in the haystack, you want to see who has it cheapest, fastest, or ideally both-est. That requires a move to “unified search” — something I’ve been kvetching about since 2023, but likely a tough sell from both a software architecture and retailer relationship standpoint.
Last November, DoorDash finally started making this fix — starting with the alcohol category — meaning shoppers can now easily compare the price of a bottle of bourbon across say a BevMo!, a grocery giant and the corner store. I caught up with Harshit Agarwal, Senior Director, Product Management at DoorDash to better understand all the work that went into making this quiet but important update.
DoorDash recently announced seven new product features – enhancements to gift cards, order bundling, list imports, search and more – how important are these updates?
At DoorDash, our goal is to give people access to the best of their neighborhood, from local restaurants to cult-favorite grocery stores, local flower and pet shops, and more. These new features are a natural extension of that mission. From the ability to import a grocery list to a redesigned retail search experience and more, we’re making it easier than ever for people to find what they need, when they need it, from local businesses at affordable prices.
With the holiday season in full swing, features like our gift card hub, DoubleDash, and our partnership with Bon Appetit are designed to make holiday prep, shopping, and hosting stress-free, while giving people time back to celebrate with their loved ones.
What’s it look like to build these out, how long did this whole process take?
We always start by asking ourselves: How can we make customers’ lives easier, creating a more frictionless, convenient, affordable and delightful experience for customers to access anything in their neighborhood on-demand? From there, we identify ways we can enhance the platform through customer feedback, trends we’re seeing in ordering behavior and app usage, and ideas from our team. True to our “one team, one fight” value at DoorDash, every product build is a collaborative effort across teams including Product, Engineering, Marketing, Operations, and more.
Because DoorDash operates a three-sided marketplace– serving consumers, merchants, and Dashers– it’s important to build features that work well for everyone. Once a feature is developed, we test it with a small group of users to fine-tune the experience before rolling it out. The goal is to make sure the experience is smooth, intuitive, and impactful from the start.
The unified search update – meaning you can compare multiple retailers’ prices and availability for the same SKU – is particularly interesting. Was that a highly requested feature?
We’re always thinking about how we can make the shopping experience even more frictionless and relevant for customers. Shopping for anything with DoorDash should be as easy as shopping in-store, and our redesigned retail search experience brings that vision to life. Now, it’s easier to find exactly what you want, when you want it, with prices and estimated delivery times all in one view. We do the heavy lifting to find you the best deals so you can make informed decisions quickly and easily– the same way you’d be able to browse a store shelf. Think of it like Google Search, but for your local shopping needs. It brings the convenience and transparency of online shopping to the world of local retail.
Why start with alcohol for the roll out?
Alcohol has been a fast-growing category on our platform, with a more than 50% increase in alcohol pickup and delivery orders from 2022 to 2023. DoorDash is connecting more 21+ consumers to alcohol delivery than ever before – and the holiday season is an especially important time for alcohol orders, as people are in the midst of hosting and gifting. We wanted to give people the option to compare prices and estimated delivery times before making a purchase. It’s just the first category we’ve launched, and we’re excited to expand it to more retail categories including beauty and electronics in the coming months.
Did you have to convince merchants to be OK with this change, or was it something DoorDash can just initiate on its own? I can imagine that certain retailers might not love that it’s now easier to see if a specific item is cheaper at a competitor.
By making it easier for people to find exactly what they’re looking for, we’re not just improving the shopping experience, we’re also helping merchants connect with new customers. What’s great about this feature is the ability to choose where to purchase from based on your specific need – whether that’s price, availability, or delivery time. For example, for those really last-minute needs your top priority might be speed, so you can choose to prioritize the fastest delivery time at a price point that works for you. It’s a great way to discover a new store that has the item you’re looking for. We’re rolling this feature out for retail categories only, including beauty, electronics, pets, toys and more.
At DoorDash, our focus is on building tools and features that align with what people need, while empowering our merchants to reach new customers. We’re committed to helping our communities and the merchants within them succeed, and we’ll continue developing products that support those goals.
Wrapping things up, what brought you into the delivery industry and what are you most excited to work on?
Well, I have a background in marketplaces, most recently Facebook Marketplace. I’m particularly passionate about connecting people with goods and services in their local communities, and I see tremendous potential in the delivery and local commerce industries to strengthen that connection even further. I’m most excited about the opportunity to help give people their time back – something incredibly valuable. We’re building a service that gives people access to everything their city has to offer in a way that seamlessly integrates with their lifestyle. Whether it's groceries, takeout, beauty products or beyond, we’re making it faster and more affordable to get everyday needs taken care of, so people can focus on what matters most to them.
CURBIVORE IS TEN WEEKS AWAY!
The world of mobility, delivery, curbs, restaurants, retail and civic technology come together as never before — April 10 & 11 in Downtown LA.
Register now and save: tickets are just $195 for a limited time.
HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
Can we get these stateside? Hyundai’s revealed new electric rickshaw concepts, targeting the Indian market. Also envisioned as a four-wheeler, this LEV has better visibility and maneuverability than the traditional models it supplants, not to mention much less noxious emissions (two-stroke engines are particularly terrible.)
AV updates: Waymo announces plans to begin testing its vehicles in 10 new U.S. markets this year, while also starting fully autonomous services (for employees only) in metro Atlanta. Harry breaks down the economics of Uber vs Waymo. GM’s bet on Super Cruise looks to be paying off, with 20% of equipped owners opting to pay for the service, while its EV efforts look to be paying off as well. Tesla profit nosedives, after which Elon claims the company will launch a robotaxi service in June (anything to juice that stock price…) On the smaller side, Avride teamed up with Grubhub to bring delivery bots to college campuses (GH sure seems to cozy up to a lot of these competitors.)
Dangerous data: Child pedestrian fatalities in NYC reached an all-time high, as local officials struggle to make good on Vision Zero promises. I’ll be curious if congestion pricing makes this better or worse — new data shows vehicle volume down 5% — one could argue that the higher traffic speeds the policy enables may actually lead to more dangerous collisions. New data from MTI shows a less localized scourge: right turns on red have increased ped and bike fatalities; now that most drivers are in pickups and SUVs the danger is even greater.
Department of big bummers: Congestion pricing opponent in line to be new head of FTA. New Transportation Secretary looks to rescind fuel economy standards, end “woke” policies and seeks to fund projects that “give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.” And the FAA is leaderless amidst the DCA crash because Elon didn’t like the old Administrator.
Better news around the world: Mumbai approves new express metro linking up two airports. Prague approves route for S-Bahn. UAE seeks HSR to connect Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Deep breaths: New analysis of LA County maps truck traffic, and implicitly diesel particulate pollution, at a neighborhood scale. This hammers home not just the importance of shifting trucks to EV and H2 sources, but of pushing more freight onto trains. How many readers know that LA has a publicly-financed subway for freight trains: the Alameda Corridor.
“Knowing what I know now, I would have never taken Mubadala as an investor.” Turkish instant delivery heavyweight Getir has had a tough few years, retrenching while its industry peers evaporated. Abu Dhabi’s wealth fund Mubadala stepped in to save the multi-billion dollar startup, but now the company’s founder claims the financiers are engaged in a coup.
Money, money, money: The state of venture in 2024 was rather weak, with recent funds underperforming. While AI continues to suck up much of the remaining oxygen, a few curb-y sectors are still getting a bit of funding: e-commerce, cleantech, robotics, aerospace and hardware.
A few good links: Shift4Good raises €220 million for sustainable transport startups. GM and Yoshi Mobility donate mobile DC fast chargers for EV owners affected by SoCal wildfires. NYC rescinds new rule that would have required cabbies to buy insurance fro ma “solvent and responsible” insurance carrier.” Cool job alert: Senior Director, Special Projects (ZEB Infrastructure) at LA Metro. Whizz CEO talks e-bike regulation. Moove buys Kovi.
Get your Curbivore tickets!
- Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew