Amid higher costs and other challenges, apps add revenue for Arlington businesses
Arlington merchants generated over $50 million in DoorDash sales in 2023 as local businesses continue to adapt to changing consumer expectations.
Hundreds of restaurants in Arlington currently turn to the third-party service to deliver food to customers' homes, a spokesperson told ARLnow. In a marketplace that increasingly privileges convenience, DoorDash and other third-party apps have helped Arlington restaurants diversity their revenue and combat mounting costs, said Erinn Tucker-Oluwole, co-founder of DMV Black Restaurant Week .
"Not only are they here to stay, I think [third-party apps] will have an impact on the types of restaurants and types of businesses, how they're formed," she said.
At Queen Mother's Kitchen in Crystal City, as much as half of a day's sales can come from third-party ordering and delivery services, chef and owner Rock Harper told ARLnow. The restaurant landed in Arlington in December 2020 — a time when contactless delivery was flourishing around the world due to the pandemic.
"We saw it really surge, and then stay that way," Harper said. "It's pretty steady. I think the world is really used to it."
A 2023 member survey by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington found that more than one third of responding restaurants experienced a drop in sales and traffic last year, while 58% of restaurants experienced higher occupancy costs.
Apps like DoorDash and UberEats offer a way for customers to access restaurant offerings without having to leave their homes — and Tucker-Oluwole believes they're "here to stay."
"I think we'll continuously need the third-party apps," she said. "That'll be their conduit between them and customers."
DoorDash provides a mentorship program, Accelerator for Local Restaurants , which provided a cohort of mostly smaller restaurants in the D.C. area with $5,000 grants, education, training and one-on-one coaching to help expand their revenue streams. Harper is a current member of this program through his D.C. bar, Hill Prince .
He says he has seen how customers appreciate the convenience delivery apps offer — even if it means their food isn't as fresh as it would be otherwise.
"I'll take the fries a little soggy, because I get, you know, I get to sit here," he said.
At the same time, as a self-described "big customer experience guy," Harper said that these kinds of transactions present "a ton of unknowns." Prices are also a key factor "in a competitive business," he said, and third-party services usually increase consumer costs through additional fees.
"What is this customer experience look like after I hand this bag off?" he said. "The fact that I would give my customer experience to a driver, that's probably one of the things that I really fought early on."
The demand for food delivery has led to safety concerns across the globe as drivers, sometimes on bikes, scooters or mopeds, rush to drop-off and pickup orders.
As a result, some cities like nearby D.C. to take actions to reinforce speed limits and crack down on dangerous driving, the Associated Press reported in June.
Harper countered that DoorDash has been "great about really vetting drivers and making sure that people that don't follow the rules stay off the platform."
Another concern: the fees paid by restaurants and consumers to have food delivered.
"The share of consumers choosing third-party delivery services over direct restaurant delivery is rising, up from 15% in 2020 to 21% in 2024, according to Technomic's 2024 Delivery & Takeout Consumer Trend Report," CNBC reported last month . "Among consumers who report ordering less delivery, 41% said it was because of high delivery fees, while 48% point to inflated menu prices, according to the report."
Looking ahead, Tucker-Oluwole predicts third-party apps will influence the restaurant industry beyond dollars spent and meals served. She also doesn't believe " ghost kitchens " — restaurants that serve exclusively through delivery — will remain popular for long, with trends favoring those that offer both an in-person dining experience and app options.
Third-party apps will likely continue to serve as a "testing ground, as a model" for restaurant owners before deciding to go brick-and-mortar, or sign a lease, Tucker-Oluwole predicted.
