>>21401832 (OP)>How the fuck is this company even still around? Government intervention? The drivers are basically illegal, and working for free. The food and delivery is also overpriced.Former Doordash corporate worker here. Yes there is some government intervention. I mean, depending on what you consider, but in case you didn't know, you can use EBT food stamps at a lot of restaurants and stores on Doordash. So, in that sense, yes, taxpayer money is being used to fund DoorDash.
I've been a Doordash drivers (Dasher) and I've worked corporate on the supply chain side for their Dashmart stores (DD has delivery-only stores in many cities called Dashmarts). Basically, people love getting shit delivered to their door. When I used to deliver, I noticed that it was lower middle class and poorer neighborhoods that ordered DD way more than nicer neighborhoods. This was for a variety of reasons, but I think the main one is that poor people worked more and had less free time. A nicer family has a stay at home wife that can cook meals, or it's some guy who works from home and has time to cook. A lot of Doordash orders were to obvious single moms who'd get off a long work shift and want to feed their kids without getting back in the car for another trip.
And of course as others have said, zoomers are averse to driving and a lower percentage of them have cars than any previous American generation. They justify getting Doordash multiple times per month (or even per week) by saying "well I don't have a car payment or car insurance payment, so I can afford delivery"
Important to remember that Doordash has expanded beyond restaurant delivery. Tons of people get their groceries delivered through Doordash just like you can have done through Instacart. IMO getting a batch of groceries delivered is the most rational use of Doordash. It's basically the same price as the grocery store and the only added cost is delivery fee/tip. So, basically you pay $10 or $15 to save yourself the time