Earnings Call Transcript
DoorDash, Inc. (DASH)
Earnings Call Transcript - DASH Q4 2021
Operator, Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. And welcome to the DoorDash Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2021 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Thank you. Andy Hargreaves, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.
Andy Hargreaves, Vice President of Investor Relations
Thanks. So, hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us for our fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. I am pleased to be joined today by Co-Founder, Chair and CEO, Tony Xu; and CFO, Prabir Adarkar. We’d like to remind everyone that we will be making forward-looking statements during this call, including our expectations of our business, future financial results and guidance, strategy and statements regarding the recently announced acquisition of the Wolt’s transaction results. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, and some such risks are described in our risk factors, including in our SEC filings, including Form 10-K. You shouldn’t rely on our forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. During this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Information regarding our non-GAAP financial results, including a reconciliation of non-GAAP results to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may be found in our Investor Letter, which is available on our IR site. These non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to our GAAP results and are not intended to be a substitute for our GAAP results. Finally, this call in its entirety is being audio webcast on our Investor Relations website. An audio replay of the call will be available on our website shortly after the call ends. And with that, we can go straight to questions.
Operator, Operator
Your first question comes from the line of Douglas Anmuth with JPMorgan. Your line is open.
Douglas Anmuth, Analyst
Thanks for taking the question. I know you are focused on maximizing the long-term profit dollars. Just hoping you could provide some more color on how to think about the near-term investment and loss levels in some of the new categories, just relative to the profit and cash generation that you mentioned in the core restaurant business? Thanks.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Hi, Doug. Thanks for the question. Yes. That’s right. We are focused on maximizing scale and the reason for that is because we operate in very large categories that are underpenetrated today. What I will say is, we are not breaking out the margins of the investments in our new categories other than to say that the U.S. business is growing nicely and has an increase in contribution margins, both on a quarter-on-quarter and a year-on-year basis. So that increase in profit is what we are funding into these investments and we are watching for core signals around retention and order frequency to make sure that they hit our term thresholds.
Douglas Anmuth, Analyst
Okay. Thank you.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Youssef Squali with Truist Securities. Your line is open.
Youssef Squali, Analyst
Great. Thank you very much. Two questions from me, please. One, did you guys see any benefits from Omicron during the quarter and how has January and early February trended versus your expectations? And second, can you maybe speak to recent trends in the competitive landscape and do you believe as your main competitor has been talking about that you guys may have lost some share in the U.S., and if so, maybe just kind of if you can flesh that out for us in terms of geos and product types where you feel you need to maybe regain some share? Thank you.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
So maybe I will start the Omicron question, and then, Tony, can chime in with the competitive landscape. On Omicron specifically, the impact in Q4, even January, it’s been relatively muted, it’s not significant that I would call it out, and certainly, not significant when compared to the impact we saw from COVID earlier in Q2. In fact, with every sort of successive variant, the impact on our business has basically diminished and so the Q4 outperformance, I wouldn’t attribute that to Omicron. And Tony, if you want to comment on the competitive landscape.
Tony Xu, CEO
Yeah. Hey, Youssef. We haven’t seen any loss of market share recently in the fourth quarter or for the year of 2021. The reasons for this are quite straightforward. We continue to be the top choice for new customers entering the industry for the first time. Our customer acquisition channels are more extensive than any others available in the industry. Additionally, we maintain leading retention and order frequency among our customers, which has always been our priority—building the best product, as evidenced by our strong metrics in both new customer acquisition and retention. When considering the size of the core business opportunity in U.S. restaurants, it's noteworthy that even as the market leader and the fastest-growing segment in the industry, we represent only 5% of U.S. industry sales. Despite achieving a record quarter with 25 million monthly active consumers, we still serve only a small fraction of the total population in those markets. As we explore new categories and international opportunities, the potential for growth is immense, and we are keen to invest in it. Looking ahead, our focus remains on maintaining the best product that offers the right mix of selection, quality, affordability, and service. As long as we stick to that approach, I believe our performance will speak for itself.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
And just to add to Tony’s point, Youssef, to answer your question directly, over the last 12 months, we have gained 2 points of share, over 2 points of share on our third-party data sources. And specifically, with respect to Q4, we believe we have gained share as we move faster than our peers based on their publicly reported numbers for their U.S. businesses.
Youssef Squali, Analyst
Great. Thanks for the color.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from Ross Sandler with Barclays. Your line is open.
Ross Sandler, Analyst
Hey, guys. Two questions. So is there anything unique about the experience thus far in Canada and Australia that gives you confidence that once Wolt comes into the fray that you will be able to run the same playbook successfully? I think there’s some skepticism in the investment community that, what you see in the U.S. is replicable in the international countries. So maybe just talk a little bit about that. And then, Prabir, your sales and marketing expense was actually down a bit quarter-on-quarter in contrast to GOV being up nicely. So I think the letter mentioned customer acquisition being a little bit more efficient. Can you just elaborate a little bit on that? Is that some of that retention you are talking about kicking in or anything else on marketing efficiency? Thanks a lot.
Tony Xu, CEO
I will take the first question regarding our international performance and progress, and then I will let Prabir address the second question about sales and marketing expenses. We are very excited about our international advancements, which is why we continue to invest more in this area. It all begins with finding the right product market fit and then scaling our investments based on our observations. We are seeing an increased selection for our customers, improved quality of experience, and greater affordability levels, particularly through our initiatives like DashPass, along with enhanced service levels. Consequently, we are experiencing higher order frequencies, better retention, and increased engagement with our new categories in these countries. Customer feedback and their spending choices significantly inform and guide our strategy, leading to continued progress. These factors have contributed to positive results in areas such as revenue growth, order growth, and category share growth. Once we establish these foundational inputs, it explains the growth in our investments, which is also why we are enthusiastic about the Wolt partnership, as it allows us to expand on a larger scale across more than 20 countries. Prabir, do you want to add anything?
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Ross, to add to that topic, we've been disciplined with our investments, which has enabled growth in our U.S. business, and we're applying that same approach to new categories and international markets. This has led to margin improvements, allowing us to invest more confidently. Regarding your question on sales and marketing, the decline was due to lower costs for acquiring Dashers compared to the previous quarter. We addressed the undersupply situation from earlier in Q2, and we are now well supplied, which we expect to continue in 2022. Importantly, the demographics of Dashers are quite different from those targeted by other gig economy companies. Over 90% of Dashers have no plans to drive for rideshare, and only 4% prefer rideshare over food delivery. This is because Dashers do not require a car and can use scooters or bikes instead, making it safer as they don't have to share personal space with others. As a result, our supply of Dashers is strong, which has contributed to the decline in acquisition costs and marketing expenses quarter-over-quarter.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Deepak Mathivanan with Wolfe Research. Your line is open.
Deepak Mathivanan, Analyst
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. Two questions from us. So, first, Tony, in 2021, you guys launched a lot of new offerings and expanded across many verticals. The pace of innovation was pretty strong. But as we think about 2022 and maybe even 2023, what are one or two main initiatives you feel are ready to graduate and kind of become more meaningful on financial KPIs in the next like 12 months to 24 months? And then second question, maybe for Prabir, it seems like MAU was up 20% last year and frequency was also up pretty nicely. But as we think about your guidance, 19% GOV growth at the high end for the full year, how should we think about the assumptions for MAU growth frequency and AOE for this year? Thank you.
Tony Xu, CEO
Thank you for your question, Deepak. I appreciate your insights on product innovation. We continuously strive to enhance our offerings, especially when we receive feedback on how we can better serve our customers—whether they are consumers, merchants, or Dashers. We aim to increase our pace of innovation whenever we identify such opportunities, and we only scale our initiatives into significant businesses once we achieve product market fit. We have a successful track record in this area, not only with our core U.S. restaurant business but also with products like DoorDash Drive and Storefront. We lead in the convenience and pickup categories and have built businesses from the ground up in convenience, grocery, and other sectors, reaching over $1 billion in sales, with about 14% of our monthly active users engaged in these areas. We've made significant progress. Regarding our focus on key initiatives, our investment philosophy is centered around developing the best product. As long as we see positive product market fit and maintain attention to detail within each category, we consider further investment to grow these areas, whether by entering new regions or engaging more merchants. For instance, in 2021, we doubled the number of non-restaurant partners in our marketplace. There is still much to accomplish. I believe that as long as we adhere to our investment philosophy, ensuring we build exceptional products, gauged by retention and order frequency, and exercise discipline in scaling these initiatives with the right leaders and teams, we will be well positioned for success.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Deepak, regarding your question about 2022 and the longer-term outlook, the goal is to increase end usage and maintain our part of the sequence. We do not operate on a one-year timeline; rather, we focus on planting seeds for many years to come. It's important to understand that these categories, including the food categories, are still underpenetrated. Our core business currently accounts for less than 5% of total net restaurant sales, indicating there is substantial potential for further adoption and engagement increases. Additionally, we have begun exploring other categories such as convenience, grocery, alcohol, pet food, and retail, which are also significant markets with lower penetration compared to the food category. Combining these factors presents an exciting opportunity and suggests that the early adoption and engagement we are witnessing, as we evolve from a food delivery app to catering to all local commerce needs, gives us the confidence to maintain a healthy growth rate over time.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Boone with JMP Securities. Your line is open.
Andrew Boone, Analyst
Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Two, please. One, can you just update on your progress on advertising and can that contribute to 2022? Or is it a longer-term initiative? And then secondly, on non-restaurant verticals, where are you seeing traction with consumers? Is it grocery? Is it alcohol? Can you be a little bit more specific there? Thank you so much.
Tony Xu, CEO
Sure. I'll address both of your questions. Regarding advertising, we are experiencing significant enthusiasm from all stakeholders including advertisers, retailers, restaurants, and consumers. It's crucial for us to achieve two goals that can often conflict. First, we want to provide the best return on investment for advertisers. Second, we aim to ensure that we enhance, rather than diminish, the consumer shopping experience. These are our primary focuses. Although we are eager about our progress, we are not in a hurry to monetize. Our main objectives in advertising are clear, and it's performing well with strong demand. We believe that maintaining discipline and developing a superior product will help us achieve sustained long-term growth. As for new categories, we are seeing progress across each one. This isn't particularly surprising given the nature of these categories—items that people frequently purchase, whether for their pantries or grocery shopping. Our approach is to create incremental demand by providing fast delivery options, while also enabling retailers and merchants to use their own channels and platforms. This strategy is driving growth, and as mentioned in our shareholder letter, about 14% of our monthly active shoppers have engaged in categories beyond restaurants. This percentage is even higher in many markets, and this trend is consistent across various categories.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
And Andrew, regarding the advertising question, we anticipate an increase in advertising revenues in 2022, but we plan to reinvest those additional profits into growth initiatives to optimize long-term profit potential.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.
Eric Sheridan, Analyst
Thanks so much. Maybe just dovetailing with some of what we have talked about so far. As you move into more categories and you think about more product evolution over the long-term, I think in the Shareholder Letter, there was a comment about retention and frequency in LTV. How should we be thinking about long-term margin structure or the long-term LTV-to-CAC in this business now versus maybe the pre-pandemic period when you IPOed a couple of years ago and how would you frame what you have learned over the last couple of years with respect to that? Thanks.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Thank you for the question, Eric. I appreciate it. To respond, the framework we shared in our letter outlines how we manage the business. Currently, we are not focused on achieving a specific margin or consistently increasing margins each quarter. Our strategy centers on investing in various areas, starting small and seeking signals in two main areas. The first is product market fit. For instance, we noted that 14% of our monthly active users engage with services beyond food, which indicates product market fit. We also look for frequency signals and assess how our initiatives impact retention on the core platform. If we identify positive signals regarding product market fit, that's one criterion met. The second aspect is our progress on unit economics. We have specific target unit economics for each business to meet our return goals, and we aim for steady advancement. When we observe both criteria being satisfied, as we have with our new verticals and international and platform businesses, we begin to scale our investments. This framework guides our approach rather than targeting a specific margin. The example in the shareholder letter illustrated our thought process; if we prioritized margin growth consistently, initiatives like DashPass wouldn't emerge as they come with lower unit margins per order. However, as emphasized from the start, we focus on long-term profit dollars, and we are confident in the increasing order frequency from the DashPass program, which leads to greater total revenue per user than alternatives. I'm not sidestepping your question; rather, we're not constraining our operations to specific targets, and we are pleased with our progress in maximizing long-term profit dollars. Additionally, the advertising opportunity gives me confidence for potential growth, as it expands with our user base and engagement. Today, our monthly active users have grown by 20% compared to last year, and several years ago, we were significantly smaller. Our users are now engaging across various verticals and services within the app, presenting us with substantial opportunities to create new business lines and generate advertising revenue with healthy returns on ad spend. I see this as potential upside for our model, though we must proceed cautiously to ensure that we enable advertising returns without compromising the consumer experience.
Tony Xu, CEO
The only thing I’d add to what Prabir said is really, I think, the latter part of the question around what have we learned kind of during the pre-COVID kind of post-COVID era of behavior. Is just the resilience of the category and how I think we have put to rest, I think this question of what happens to demand as diners go back and eat inside restaurants. Well, I think clearly, takeout and delivery, as shown by our performance, not just in the fourth quarter but also in 2021, just in an aggregate is that they are complementary. It’s very possible to eat inside of a restaurant and get delivery, because we eat three times or more maybe per day, and that’s over 100 shopping moments per month. And then you start adding in these other categories, and you just ask yourself the question, well, is it complementary to go inside shopping malls or other types of stores and maybe get it delivered online or over the Internet. And I think that’s kind of what we have seen certainly in the restaurant delivery business and we are starting to see that in all of our other categories.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Bernie McTernan with Needham & Company. Your line is open.
Bernie McTernan, Analyst
Great. Thanks for taking the question. I have seen some examples on the app when I ordered dinner, for example, might push me to order ice cream from another local store. I imagine new categories like grocery and alcohol and convenience, so probably incrementally less time sensitive. So there’s probably even a greater opportunity for Dashers to go to multiple stores for the same customer, but is that a substantial opportunity, either from a cost efficiency perspective or higher GOV or maybe some potential advertising opportunity?
Tony Xu, CEO
Hey. It’s Tony. Yeah. I will take your question. I think it’s a really good point and I think this kind of really is very exciting for us, because it’s the thesis we have had since really day one of the company, which is this business anything last mile and local commerce is really about building greatest order density. That’s why we started with restaurants, right? It has the highest count of stores across every category of local retail restaurants who that is and it has the highest frequency of use, which is what gives you the possibility for the highest order density. And if you can start with the highest order density, then you have a lot of optionality. Optionality to do some of the things that you describe a bring other types of things and I think hopefully being useful to consumers and different kinds of merchants, which therefore provides more flexible work opportunities for Dashers. It also provides opportunities to do I think some of the things you described around, which is efficiency. But to us, it’s just again, it goes back to, how do we become more and more useful in people’s lives, right? How do we solve more jobs for a consumer as we think about every shopping occasion they have. And again, while we have impressive order frequency, it’s a small fraction of actually how much shopping that actually takes place, right? So we have a lot of work to do, I think, to solve even more jobs. And I think the same is true for merchants and not only in helping them build their channels, but doing other types of jobs for them. That’s why we have our platform services business. And I think together, if we can do these two things, we will provide the greatest number of work opportunities for Dashers as well. And so you are absolutely right, and I think a lot of the assumptions behind the question. But to us, it just starts with how do we build the best possible experience in solving the most number of jobs.
Bernie McTernan, Analyst
Great. Thanks, Tony.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from Michael McGovern with Bank of America. Your line is open.
Michael McGovern, Analyst
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I was just wondering if you could dig a little bit more into the chart about DashPass order mix versus contribution profit per active consumer. I thought it was pretty surprising and interesting to see that there’s such a wide variance of DashPass order mix and also the contribution dollars. So I was wondering what causes some cohorts to lag and then is it kind of just a function of time to get those lagging cohorts up to that close to $25 mark of contribution profit per active consumer? Thanks.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Thanks for the question, Mike. It's a great chance to clarify the chart since we received a few inquiries prior to the call. Each dot on the chart represents a quarterly cohort, starting from 2019 through the third quarter of 2021. The X-axis shows the percentage of orders from that cohort that are DashPass orders, while the Y-axis represents the contribution profit per active user in Q4 2021 for each cohort. There's a positive correlation where a higher DashPass order mix leads to higher contribution profit for monthly active users. This relates back to my previous response to Eric, where I mentioned that with DashPass, we're choosing to accept lower unit margins in return for much higher order frequency. As order frequency increases, more orders are generated, resulting in greater cumulative contribution profit for each user. Regarding the variance, it primarily comes down to time. The left side of the chart features newer cohorts, while the right side shows older ones. Generally, as time progresses, consumers become more accustomed to the product, making DashPass financially advantageous because it becomes worthwhile after placing more than 2 to 2.5 orders. Over time, as consumers save more money, they tend to use DashPass more frequently, which in turn boosts their order frequency.
Michael McGovern, Analyst
Got it. That’s really helpful. And I guess one quick follow-up on order frequency. I was just wondering and on the 14% of customers that are now trying non-restaurant ordering for the first time or, excuse me, just using it. Do you expect that restaurant and non-restaurant can exhibit similar order frequency trends long-term or do you think that eating and ordering from restaurants is fundamentally a higher order frequency you kind of market?
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
In general, people’s activity on our app resembles how they operate in their daily lives, right? So if you think about this question came up sort of a few quarters ago and we went public around the mix between national brand restaurants versus local restaurants and frankly, it replicates what you see in the industry. Similarly, with areas such as convenience and grocery and alcohol and pet food, essentially, over time, as people’s awareness of DoorDash builds and as our selection builds and the levers that they live in, their behavior offline and online will converge. Today, it’s lower because that level, we are still making progress in terms of the selection quality, affordability paradigm, in order to hit the sweet spots that more and more consumers start becoming aware of DoorDash as an on-demand way to actually get access to these verticals that are adjacent to food delivery and the ones that they use. So short answer to your question is, over time, I expect the order frequency to basically limit how people shop in their daily lives.
Michael McGovern, Analyst
Got it. That’s great. Thanks so much.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Lloyd Walmsley with UBS. Your line is open.
Lloyd Walmsley, Analyst
Thanks. I have a couple, if I can. First, just thanks for sharing the updated cohort data. If we just focus on maybe the narrower subset of users added during the pandemic, do you see consistent frequency and retention on those newer cohorts compared to older cohorts and in particular, in markets that have reopened more than others? And anything you can kind of share on how you think that’s going to play out over the rest of this year in terms of the cohort behavior and what’s embedded in the guidance? And then, secondly, on grocery, at the time of the IPO, I think, there were still some question marks around the unit economics and scalability of grocery. As you guys have progressed and learned in that category, how do you feel today about your ability to generate attractive unit economics and kind of how is that informing how you go-to-market on the grocery side? Thanks.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
The first thing to mention is the comparison of retention rates before and during COVID. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, retention reached all-time highs. Then, starting in 2021, we began to see a gradual return to normal retention levels, particularly as vaccination rates rose and in-store dining picked up. Early in 2021, retention and order frequency were positively influenced by stimulus payments. Currently, retention remains better than pre-pandemic levels, although it has normalized to slightly above pandemic levels. In contrast, order frequency has significantly increased compared to both pre-pandemic and 2020 levels, due to ongoing improvements in order frequency across both DashPass and non-DashPass groups.
Tony Xu, CEO
Yeah. Look, on the second question around grocery. I mean, here’s like the way we think about it, right? I mean when you look at our portfolio of priorities, we have the U.S. core business of restaurant delivery. We have these new categories, one of which you are referencing grocery, platform services, international and advertising. The way we think about them is really, how are we doing against their life stage, right? Obviously, a lot of these businesses performed actually quite recently, a product like grocery, for example, is only about 12 months to 14 months old. We love the trajectory of the business, both top and bottom line, but it’s still in its earliest innings. And so right now, the focus continues to be making sure that we keep improving the product experience, the selection of partners that we can bring on and the inventory from these partners, the quality of the experience itself, the affordability of these deliveries, as well as the service levels. And so that’s really the focus right now on grocery, and again, like the way we think about making these investments is in a fairly disciplined way of making sure that we find product market fit before we actually scale these things out. And so when we do scale these things out, they tend to already have very, very robust unit economics and cohort performance.
Lloyd Walmsley, Analyst
All right. Thank you.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of James Lee with Mizuho. Your line is open.
James Lee, Analyst
Great. Thanks for taking my question. My question is on DashMart. Maybe can you guys talk about the expansion plan maybe for FY 2022 and what are the key learnings so far? And just curious, what do you need to see for this business to scale will you consider M&A or partnership to expand this segment? Thanks.
Tony Xu, CEO
Hey, James. It’s Tony. Regarding DashMart, we are quite pleased with what we are observing. This initiative is about a year and a half old, and we are learning valuable lessons from it. For consumers, DashMarts are introducing a selection of inventory into areas where it wasn't available before, or where the operational hours have been extended to 24/7, providing significant improvements for consumer access. For merchants, this serves as crucial infrastructure, allowing them to reach new markets or extend their operational hours. We see DashMarts as a long-term investment opportunity. We are focused on achieving a strong product-market fit before we scale, but the demand for them is substantial. This aligns with DoorDash's goal of being the largest local commerce app and marketplace, facilitating increased demand while also building essential tools and infrastructure for merchants. The need for services extends beyond logistics. DashMarts are a key resource for storing inventory, entering new regions, and extending service hours. We plan to invest in this area for the long haul, and if we can develop both a marketplace and platform with DashMart, it will create significant opportunities for Dashers. Our investment approach remains consistent, emphasizing the need for a solid product-market fit before scaling further.
James Lee, Analyst
And one quick follow-up question, Tony here. When you look at the non-restaurant business, in general, like two parts to this question, when you look at user behavior, do they tend to be more recurring in nature, are they more impulsive? And also second, for your non-restaurant business in general, can you be profitable over time without advertising?
Tony Xu, CEO
So on the non-restaurant category, what we are seeing is, pretty much quite a lot of different kinds of use cases. Are there people who just shop for impulse purchases for whatever the occasion might be, yes? But predominantly, we are seeing people come back for, I think, a lot of use cases. I mean, where the recurring behavior is looking for that middle of the week run now being solved by somebody else, right? That’s really the job that we are solving for a lot of these customers, right? Like when you think about the items near pantry that get consumed the earliest or the items in your refrigerator that maybe perish the earliest, those are the types of things where you have to go back everything in a week, no matter how much you buy on a weekly basis, right, and those are the jobs where people have to do every single week and so we are seeing certainly both, although more of the behavior is recurring. And then I will let Prabir take, I think, your second question, which is really around, I think, the business model.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
And James, we have not disclosed anything about the business model around non-restaurant verticals and so no comment on that question.
James Lee, Analyst
Okay. Thank you.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Mark Mahaney with Evercore ISI. Your line is open.
Mark Mahaney, Analyst
Thanks for taking my questions. With over 10 million DashPass members out of approximately 25 million monthly active users, what do you see as the challenges in increasing that penetration rate, which is currently around 40%? Considering the value it offers and the frequency of use, I believe it could potentially reach 60% or 70% in the long run. What are the main issues you need to address to enhance that penetration? Additionally, could you provide a quick update on Prop 22, especially after the Attorney General reversed or challenged the judge's decision earlier this month? What are your thoughts on how this might unfold and when we might have more clarity? Thank you.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Yeah. I think…
Tony Xu, CEO
Yeah. And I can take the second.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
I’ll take the first question and you can take the second one. Regarding your question about the 10 million out of 40 million, yes, the 10 million was a significant achievement. We're pleased that it represents 40% of our monthly active users. However, there is still a lot of potential for growth. With 25 million monthly active users, we are just a small part of the U.S. population. If we consider the other countries we operate in, such as Canada, Australia, Japan, and Germany, we have access to over 500 million people. Even after adjusting for the adult population, the 10 million memberships are still a small portion. The way to grow membership is to focus on selection, quality, and affordability. As we continue to introduce new categories and stores in different neighborhoods, our cross-selling percentage will improve, and order frequency in these new areas will rise. It's essential to remember that purchase behavior on our platform ultimately reflects the way people behave in their everyday lives. Over time, as order frequency increases, so do the savings opportunities, making DashPass more appealing. Even for those who don’t currently order enough restaurant delivery, DashPass could become beneficial if they start using it for convenience items, groceries, or pet supplies. There is potential in these areas, and we also have room to enhance the quality of our service. This means ongoing improvements and reasonable delivery counts are crucial. We have significant work ahead to ensure that our product is consistently reliable, so that being a DashPass member feels truly special.
Tony Xu, CEO
Yes, Mark, regarding your second question about Prop 22, there hasn't been any change. We believe we are correct about the law. In fact, the California Attorney General has supported our position, with around 58% to 59% of the state's voting population favoring legalizing it. It just makes sense that this is the right legal interpretation. More importantly, we feel the same way about this issue everywhere; drivers in this type of economy should have the freedom to choose when and where they want to work, as that flexibility is essential. Prop 22 represents that flexibility while also providing the protections that drivers deserve. Whether in California or anywhere else in the world, we support the Dasher, and both California voters and drivers are in agreement, as is the California Attorney General.
Mark Mahaney, Analyst
Okay. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Prabir.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Brad Erickson with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Brad Erickson, Analyst
Thanks. I have a couple of questions. First, regarding the various categories you're managing in the U.S., and with Wolt coming on board later this year, along with your operations in Canada and Australia, does this expansion limit your ability to explore other international markets, or should we assume that other markets are always under consideration? Second, considering the regulatory challenges that may arise in the future or that you're already facing in many international markets, how prepared do you feel in terms of personnel and the costs associated with supporting these efforts and engaging in constructive discussions? Thanks.
Tony Xu, CEO
Yes, it's Tony. I’ll address both of those questions. For the first one, you are correct that we have a lot on our plate, and we are continuously working to develop the best possible products. When considering our initiatives in U.S. restaurants, new categories or platform services, international markets, and advertising, there is plenty of work to distribute. We believe it's essential to excel in our current offerings to earn the right to expand our services. However, we are always on the lookout for opportunities, especially since we have a strong core business generating positive cash flow and a healthy balance sheet, which allows us to be proactive. Regarding your second question about regulatory preparation, this has been part of DoorDash since its inception in 2013. We have always believed in ensuring that workers have the flexibility they seek, as they express consistently. We also believe in providing the protections they deserve, and in moving away from outdated laws. We think the best way to achieve this is through collaboration between governments and businesses like ours, focusing on the workers' perspective. That’s what we are diligently working on, and we have top-notch teams dedicated to this effort.
Brad Erickson, Analyst
Yeah. Thank you.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Brian Fitzgerald with Wells Fargo. Your line is open.
Brian Fitzgerald, Analyst
Thanks, guys. A couple of questions. On the marketplace side of things, non-restaurant partners doubled 2021. Clearly, you have a lot of runway there and you have a focus on product market fit for scaling. But how do you think about ways to grow partners on a platform? And then any dynamics to call out with respect to the different commission points you launched earlier in 2021, 15%, 25%, 30%, as cohorts of partners experience or use that model or are they moving up to the different commission points.
Tony Xu, CEO
I will address the first question, and then Prabir can take the second regarding the different tiers of commission points. To start with the addition of more selection in these new categories, it really comes down to putting in the work. Customers are attracted to what we offer, as we provide the largest on-demand audience for local commerce with a high shopping frequency. This creates an additional use case not just from their physical activities, but also from their digital activities and prior digital partnerships they've established. Consequently, we are seeing significant excitement, and people are starting to view DoorDash as more than just a lunch and dinner service; they're thinking of us as a resource for everything in their neighborhood. There has been considerable progress, but there is still work to be done. We need to develop a lot of products that are relevant for categories outside of restaurants, including everything from the catalog to the in-store shopping experience, as well as customer support, ensuring we assist not only on our platform but also on their own channels. There's a lot to tackle, but partner enthusiasm has been outstanding. Many of the partners you’ve seen in the news are just the beginning, and we expect to onboard many more.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Brian, on the question about the pricing tiers. Just as a reminder, this was aimed at SMB restaurants, not larger restaurants and on those that are coming through our self-service channel. So a small fraction of those have actually opted into the pricing tiers versus the prior pricing. And off the number that after the majority have picked the two higher tiers, which was in line with what we expected and kind of makes sense given the value that we drive at the higher pricing does.
Operator, Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Jim Sanderson with Northcoast Research. Your line is open.
Jim Sanderson, Analyst
Thanks for the question. Just wanted to follow-up a little bit more on DashPass, I am wondering if you could help us to understand how the new DashPass members were recruited if this is primarily through credit card marketing programs, and then going forward, as you try to expand these types of programs internationally if your client acquisition strategy for DashPass is going to have to adjust away from credit cards. Just a little bit more texture on how that growth has developed.
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
Yeah. The vast majority of the DashPass members are through our own channels and the minority are through credit card channels.
Jim Sanderson, Analyst
And then, are the percentage or share of DashPass members that pay full membership, is that changing over time?
Prabir Adarkar, CFO
No, it’s relatively consistent. However, it depends on the intensity of our marketing efforts; the mix between free trials and paid memberships changes, but overall it remains very consistent.
Jim Sanderson, Analyst
All right. Thank you.
Operator, Operator
There are no further questions. This does conclude today’s conference call and thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.