US food delivery major DoorDash launches in Japan

US food delivery platform major DoorDash announced its official launch in Japan, marking its first market expansion in Asia and its third outside its home country, after Australia and Canada.

Photo credit: DoorDash

With its services initially available in Sendai, users will be able to order from local restaurants as well as international chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut. In addition, DoorDash is also offering merchants in the city access to its Storefront product, an online ordering system that allows customers to place takeout and delivery orders directly with a restaurant.

As part of its Japanese launch, Storefront will be commission-free until the end of the year, leaving payment processing fees as the only cost to merchants. The service can be integrated with merchants’ websites to help them reach their existing customer bases better, DoorDash said.

“Our strategy has always been to empower local economies, especially in the suburban markets that are historically underserved yet [where] the appetite for connectivity between merchants and customers is high,” said DoorDash CEO and co-founder Tony Xu.

According to data from Statista, Japan’s online food delivery market is expected to reach US$3.4 billion in revenue this year and show a 7.1% growth in 2022. In the country, DoorDash is set to go up against another international firm, Wolt, which is already present in Sendai as well as in Tokyo, Sapporo, and Hiroshima, among others.

Founded in 2013, DoorDash provides a last-mile logistics infrastructure for local commerce. The company said it’s currently present in more than 4,000 cities in all the markets it operates in.