With restaurants around the country closing their dining rooms and staying open for takeout and delivery, many continue to struggle with keeping their businesses afloat, especially with the added financial burden of 3rd party delivery partners.
In response to the threat of COVID-19 on local restaurants, DoorDash announced on Thursday that they will be cutting commission fees by 50% for local restaurant partners. The commission relief program will run through the end of May.
We’re committed to helping our friends at local restaurants remain #OpenForDelivery, so we’re reducing restaurant fees for more than 150,000 partners by 50% through the end of May https://t.co/K9l1NP9rmE
— DoorDash (@DoorDash) April 9, 2020
This program is projected to help up to 150,000 restaurants in the United States, Canada, and Australia, according to DoorDash. Restaurants eligible for discounts are local restaurants with no more than 5 locations.
This $100 million injection is in addition to DoorDash’s previously announced COVID-19 response program for new and existing DoorDash partner restaurants, which will help restaurants generate up to $200 million in additional sales this year.
This program offers zero commission fees for 30 days for independent restaurants who sign up for DoorDash for the first time and zero commission fees for existing restaurant partners on pickup orders.
With the negative impacts COVID-19 has had on the restaurant industry, DoorDash offering these programs is a positive step towards helping restaurants recover and weather this storm.