Dive Brief:
- DoorDash has partnered with Gap, Kohl's, Barnes & Noble and Carter's, enabling shoppers to order and receive goods from the retailers via the quick delivery provider's marketplace.
- The company announced the partnerships on Aug. 18 in the midst of the back-to-school shopping season. "For our retail partners, it means getting in front of consumers exactly when they need them most," Mike Goldblatt, DoorDash's VP of enterprise partnerships, said in a press release.
- DoorDash now has more than half a million products eligible for sub-hour delivery in retail categories like apparel, books, household items and more, per the release. The Kohl's partnership is DoorDash's first department store selection spanning apparel to home goods, while Barnes & Noble marks the company's first large-scale books offering.
Dive Insight:
More retailers are adding and expanding same-day shipping capabilities in 2026 as they seek to woo shoppers wanting goods fast without leaving the house. For example, Amazon recently launched one-hour and three-hour deliveries while Walmart-owned Sam's Club debuted a one-hour offering of its own.
This year, DoorDash has also linked up with Foot Locker, Urban Outfitters and more. In Q1 alone, the delivery provider fulfilled tens of millions of retail and grocery deliveries in less than 30 minutes, covering more than 22,000 ZIP codes.
“Partnering with DoorDash extends the reach of Gap and Gap Factory, combining iconic style with the convenience and immediacy that our customers expect," Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of Gap Brand, said in a news release.
Gap Inc. already had a connection to DoorDash prior to last month's announcement, with its Old Navy division rolling out a partnership with the delivery provider in 2025.
As DoorDash adds more partnerships, volume beyond restaurant orders is becoming an increasingly important part of its business. For the company's retail and grocery categories, the total dollar value of marketplace orders saw strong year-over-year growth in Q2 "while significantly improving unit economics," per an Aug. 5 earnings release.
