DoorDash stock remains lowest-cost delivery provider, Wells Fargo says

Wells Fargo's latest survey shows DoorDash remains the lowest-cost third-party delivery provider, despite raising its fees by 3.5% in the third quarter. The survey found DoorDash's total basket costs were 2% lower than both Uber and Instacart, even with the fee increase. Uber raised its fees by 16% in the same period, aligning its pricing with DoorDash's.

Both platforms now charge a 16% premium over Instacart. The third quarter saw a 2% broad-based basket inflation across all delivery channels. The gap in first-party basket discounts versus third-party providers remained at around 36%. Price hikes were mainly due to a 2.2% SKU-level inflation, partially offset by lower fees averaging down 2.4%, mainly driven by DoorDash's 19% quarterly fee decline.

In-store basket costs increased by 4%, reducing the in-store discount to third-party providers by approximately 2 percentage points to 23%, marking the third quarter of convergence.