AI in Delivery Services: How DoorDash, Delivery Hero and Just Eat Takeaway Automate Orders and Marketing

Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important tool for delivery platforms – both for customers and merchants. DoorDash, Delivery Hero, and Just Eat Takeaway.com are using AI in a variety of ways, ranging from voice and chat assistants and automatically generated shopping carts to AI-powered marketing, menu optimization, and merchant onboarding.

The following table shows which AI applications the platforms offer for customers as well as restaurant operators and merchants.

Just Eat Takeaway.com is expanding the use of its AI Voice Assistant and is rolling out the feature across Europe following initial launches in the United Kingdom and Germany. Customers can describe what they are looking for in natural language and receive relevant restaurant or product recommendations based on their requests.

The assistant can also take specific requirements into account, such as a particular budget, dietary preferences, or a preferred delivery time. Shopping tasks, such as putting together the ingredients needed for a meal, can also be initiated through the assistant.

According to Just Eat Takeaway.com, customers look at an average of around three restaurants before placing an order. In nearly one-quarter of ordering sessions, they browse four or more options.

Initial results from the United Kingdom suggest that the voice assistant can shorten the search process. According to the company, users find a suitable option around 40 percent faster with the voice assistant than with its text-based AI assistant. Compared with traditional search, they are also 30 percent more likely to select a restaurant or dish recommended by the system.

DoorDash is also investing in conversational product search. With Ask DoorDash, the company is introducing an AI chatbot that allows users to search for restaurants, groceries, and reservations using natural language.

For grocery shopping, the AI can analyze a recipe link, a photo from a cookbook, or a photographed shopping list and use that information to create a shopping cart containing the required quantities. The system can also ask whether common pantry staples such as sugar or butter are already available at home.

For restaurant orders, Ask DoorDash takes factors such as budget, group size, dietary preferences, and previous orders into account. Users can also search for restaurant reservations using natural-language requests and then refine the results further.

The service is initially being rolled out on iOS in selected regions of the United States.

Delivery Hero is placing a stronger focus on the merchant side of the business. Its new agentic AI assistant is designed to support restaurants and local businesses with marketing, menu optimization, and customer communication.

Merchants currently communicate with the assistant through WhatsApp using text messages, voice messages, or images. The AI can, for example, identify underperforming dishes, recommend improvements to images and product descriptions, develop promotions and advertising campaigns, or analyze customer reviews.

One notable feature is that the assistant can directly implement suggested actions once the business has explicitly approved them. According to Delivery Hero, no changes are made without approval.

The company says the system already supports more than 40,000 restaurants. According to Delivery Hero, restaurants using the assistant on Glovo – Delivery Hero's brand in Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa – were able to increase their orders by 15 percent.

At the same time, DoorDash is expanding its AI offering for restaurants. An AI-powered self-service onboarding system can pull information such as photos, business hours, and menu items from existing online sources. According to DoorDash, this allows merchants to launch on the platform more than 35 percent faster.

AI Retouch and AI Replate can also be used to automatically enhance menu photos. Additional tools include a video library, AI-generated websites for direct ordering, and automated marketing campaigns.

The company's AI-Powered Marketer, for example, can create email content and schedule campaigns around holidays, local events, or other relevant occasions.

These examples point to a common trend: On the customer side, AI is designed to complement traditional search with conversational interactions. Instead of having to know exactly which restaurant or product they are looking for, users can simply describe what they need, and the platform handles the initial selection.

On the merchant side, the development goes even further. AI is not only helping create content but is increasingly supporting specific business processes and their execution.