Providence Pizza is a Kansas City pizzeria that, for years, ran delivery with its own drivers. Owner Aaron Salvatore held out over three worries: quality, commissions and adding another system to a busy kitchen. According to DoorDash, the platform now generates more than $500K a year for the business, or 25% of total revenue.

The playbook

  1. Integrate with the POS you already use. DoorDash connected directly to the shop’s Shift4 POS, so orders land in the existing system automatically. No extra tablet, no separate screen and no new workflow for staff.
  2. Compare against the real cost of your own fleet. Once Salvatore added up driver pay, logistics and overhead, running in-house delivery cost more than DoorDash’s commission.
  3. Use DashPass to lower the barrier to reorder. DashPass members get reduced delivery fees, which brought in high-frequency customers and made repeat orders easier.
  4. Treat Ads & Promos as the marketing budget. With no big marketing spend of its own, the shop ran Sponsored Listings to reach people searching for pizza nearby and used promotions to get new customers to try it.

Results

  • More than $500K a year in revenue from DoorDash, according to DoorDash.
  • DoorDash accounts for 25% of total revenue.
  • The business has grown from one location to a second, with a third on the way.

Salvatore’s bottom line: “It’s cheaper to use DoorDash than it is to have my own drivers.”

How to apply it

  • If an extra tablet is a reason to hold out, check whether your POS integrates directly before signing up.
  • Build a full cost per delivery for any in-house fleet, including labor, vehicles and management time, and compare it with platform fees.
  • Use membership programs and search ads to reach frequent, high-intent customers instead of broad advertising.

Source: DoorDash for Merchants success story. This Operator Story is partner content from DoorDash, a Whatnow Partner.