Apps like DoorDash or Uber Eats rely on a small group of superusers, new federal data shows

Delivery apps akin DoorDash and Uber Eats are expanding fast, gratitude in ample part to a collection of superusers.

Consumers in their mid-40s or younger who command hundreds or thousands of dollars value of food a twelvemonth for shipment appear to be a key client basis for the apps, according to data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances.

"Those are anywhere likely most of their income is coming from," stated Jeremy Horpedahl, an affiliate prof of economics at the University of Central Arkansas. "It's excellent crucial for them to keep those customers."

The data additionally propose that many group don't use delivery services at all, Horpedahl said.

The study is conducted all three years and asks 5,000 households a range of questions concerning how they earn, spend, save, and allocate their money. The latest data was collected in 2025 and released in October.

The data propose that food shipment services don't have as broad a person basis as another companies in the retailing world.

Stores akin Walmart and Dollar General have warned in latest quarters that shoppers are pulling rear on spending or looking for improved value on what they do buy. That trend extends to households alongside six-figure incomes, the retailers have said.

At the identical time, orders and spending on DoorDash and Uber has kept expanding alongside no akin pullback.

"Surveys akin this are a helpful snapshot, but they grasp lone one piece of how group use DoorDash today," a DoorDash spokesman said.

The business has lately added additional grocers and another retailers to its platform, the spokesman added. It is additionally expanding its paid DashPass affiliation to keep several of its most common users.

Horpedahl stated he reviewed the data by dividing the numbers into spending percentiles, or groups of 10% each. The base percentile represents respondents who stated they expend the smallest on food delivery, during the top percentile includes those who expend the most.

For the eight base percentiles, the median person spent $0 on food delivery. That suggests that many group who responded to the study have never used food shipment apps at all, Horpedahl said.

Those in the top 10% of spenders, meanwhile, appeared to be common users. The median person under 35 in that collection spent $1,800 a twelvemonth on food delivery. For those between 35 and 44, the fig was $2,400 a year.

A comparatively small collection of users consenting to expend hundreds or thousands of dollars per twelvemonth on food shipment could explain why shipment services continue to article powerful earnings results during many retailers and brands notify concerning consumers reigning in their spending, Horpedahl said.

"It could be true that 95% of group are pulling back," he said. "But if this collection is motionless spending, that's why Uber Eats could be saying 'Yes, we're motionless seeing powerful revenue.'"

The Survey's food shipment inquiry doesn't ask specifically concerning DoorDash or Uber and includes another services, specified as pizza delivery. It additionally apt misses several customers who have ordered shipment formerly or twice in the former but forgot concerning those purchases during answering the survey, Horpedahl said.

The results propose that companies have an chance to lure in first-time users, he said.

Grabbing several of the superusers from rivals, though, could demonstrate particularly lucrative, Horpedahl said.

"If you get fair one percent of those going to the another company, that would be huge," he said.

Do you have a narrative idea concerning DoorDash, Uber, or a akin service? Contact this newsman at [email protected] or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a individual email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing data securely.