Dive Brief:

• Dollar General has linked up with DoorDash to offer same-day delivery of groceries, cleaning supplies and other household items from more than 9,000 stores, according to a press release on Thursday.
• Delivery times average less than an hour and customers don’t have to pick a time slot or meet an order minimum, making the service similar to other instant-need delivery services that have recently expanded. 
• The tie-up comes less than a month after Dollar Tree switched on same-day delivery with Instacart at several thousand stores.

Dive Insight:

As convenience delivery services continue to build steam across the U.S., Dollar General is making sure it, too, has a digital storefront with a leading marketplace company.

The discount retailer has long offered the snacks, drinks, personal care items and other instant-needs goods that companies like Gopuff are now offering, and it wants to make sure it's offering shoppers the option of delivery while also casting about for new customers that rely on DoorDash. Dollar General offers pickup, as well, across the vast majority of its stores, having quickly ramped up the service during the pandemic.

As Dollar General increases its focus on healthcare, offering more personal care and home health products, the value of delivery service could increase for shoppers. 

The tricky part for dollar stores is maintaining their low-price appeal in an e-commerce channel that’s notorious for high fees and price markups. Browsing the company’s storefront on DoorDash showed a 99-cent delivery charge, and Thursday’s announcement notes there’s no minimum order size that shoppers have to meet. The storefront lists products organized according to categories as well as need states like “stock the fridge,” “under the weather” and “snacking favorites.”

Dollar General and DoorDash initially piloted a program in summer 2021 with approximately 600 stores in rural and metropolitan communities. The companies plan to expand delivery to 10,000 Dollar General stores by December, accounting for more than half of its footprint.

DoorDash, meanwhile, has continued to link up with retailers across the grocery, convenience-store and pharmacy sectors as it expands its platform beyond restaurants. It recently partnered with Albertsons and kicked off alcohol delivery nationwide. Earlier this week, the company announced nationwide shipping for restaurants and retailers, and the approximately $8 billion acquisition of Finnish food delivery firm Wolt.