While online grocery shopping is generally convenient, manually adding items to your cart one by one can become a bit of a chore. To address this, food and grocery shopping app DoorDash has launched a new feature that allows you to sync your grocery list to the app. The app will then suggest what to add to your cart based on the items on your list. iOS users can import lists from Apple’s Reminders app, too.
To use the new feature, first select the store where you want to shop. Then, look for the buttons “Create a list” or “Import a list.” With the create option, you can either copy and paste lists from anywhere on your phone (including online recipes) or type items manually in the text box to search everything all at once. Meanwhile, the import option is only available for the Reminders app on iOS. However, a spokesperson told us that DoorDash plans to add support for Android in the future.
A variety of grocery options will be available for each item, such as different types of onions (white, yellow, and red) that you can quickly add to your cart by tapping the plus (+) symbol.
In addition to being a convenience to consumers and a way to increase engagement with DoorDash’s app, the feature helps the company differentiate itself from other major U.S. competitors like Grubhub, Instacart, and Uber Eats.
This isn’t the first time a food delivery app has attempted a similar tool. Last month, Swiggy, an Indian online food ordering company, was spotted testing the ability to upload images of grocery lists to its app.
DoorDash announced this feature on Monday, along with other updates in anticipation of the holiday season. These include a partnership with the food magazine Bon Appétit, which offers free recipes and the option to have ingredients delivered from a nearby store.
Additionally, DoorDash has revamped its search results to allow users to search for an item across different merchants, displaying prices and estimated delivery times all in one place. This capability is currently only available for alcohol, but it will expand to more retail categories in the coming months, such as beauty and electronics.
This story was updated with additional information from a DoorDash spokesperson.
