Doordash adds AI tools to speed up merchant onboarding, edit photos of dishes

On Monday, DoorDash introduced a suite of AI-driven tools designed to streamline the onboarding process for merchants, enhance the visual appeal of dish photos, and facilitate website creation based on app listings. The new onboarding feature operates similarly to a tool launched by Amazon in 2024. It allows merchants to input their website, from which the system automatically retrieves essential information, including images, operating hours, and menu items, to create a comprehensive listing on the app. This information can be reviewed and edited by the merchants before going live. In addition, DoorDash has revamped its video library, empowering merchants to tag menu items within videos, enabling customers to order directly from those clips. The library now provides valuable insights, revealing metrics such as total views, video-driven sales, and new customer acquisitions. Furthermore, restaurants will benefit from advanced photo editing tools. The AI Retouch feature can substitute backgrounds, enhance image sharpness, and optimize lighting without altering the dish itself. Meanwhile, AI Replate enables the transformation of dish images to appear professionally plated, adjusting light and color. Merchants can also submit a reference image to apply a specific style to existing photos. Brian Tolkin, the head of merchant product at DoorDash, stated, "At DoorDash, we’re constantly building tools to help merchants succeed, from their very first day on the platform to every order thereafter. 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." Additionally, DoorDash is enhancing its commerce platform with features that allow restaurant owners to quickly create websites leveraging existing content from DoorDash, including menu items and images. During testing, merchants experienced an average order conversion rate of nearly 10% with the new feature. The platform also includes a marketing campaign builder, enabling merchants to automate content generation, email outreach, and scheduling.