DoorDash (DASH.US) will roll out a grocery shopping feature within ChatGPT this week as part of its collaboration with OpenAI. This move comes just a week after rival Instacart (CART) announced a similar tool.

Through this integration, consumers can use the plugin to ask the AI assistant for meal or recipe suggestions and have it add the required ingredients to a shopping list. At checkout, users will be redirected to DoorDash's own app, where they can adjust their orders before finalizing the purchase.

DoorDash, the largest food delivery platform in the U.S., opted to debut grocery shopping on ChatGPT instead of starting with its core food delivery business. According to a DoorDash spokesperson, this is because "finding recipe inspiration and menu planning" is "one of ChatGPT’s most popular use cases."

The spokesperson stated, "This partnership aims to align with existing consumer shopping habits, allowing them to generate DoorDash orders via ChatGPT. We believe this will expand our overall opportunities." The company added that after evaluating how to enhance users' AI chat experience, it plans to extend the integration beyond groceries to other categories.

Grocery delivery is a rapidly growing market, and DoorDash has been increasing investments in recent years to expand beyond restaurant deliveries and compete with rivals like Instacart and Uber (UBER.US).

Data analyst Mike Ryan noted that, as of Q3, grocery and other non-restaurant orders (including retail items) accounted for about 17% of DoorDash’s sales, up from 12% at the start of 2023.

In October, OpenAI announced that developers could build versions of their products within ChatGPT to enable the AI assistant to perform more tasks for users. Both DoorDash and Uber were among the nearly 20 partner brands listed at the time, meaning some features are already live while others will launch this year.

DoorDash’s debut on the platform comes just a week after Instacart introduced a similar feature, though Instacart’s ChatGPT integration goes further—allowing users to complete purchases directly within the chat.

The differences in how DoorDash, Instacart, and others integrate with ChatGPT highlight the evolving ways consumers search for and use services online.

DoorDash has previously embedded order buttons on external platforms like Google and Yelp. The company spokesperson noted that after each partnership, its business "continues to grow faster and at greater scale."

When asked why the checkout process remains in the DoorDash app rather than being embedded directly in ChatGPT, the spokesperson explained, "No single channel monopolizes consumer attention," and "any channel that wants to fully serve users must replicate our end-to-end functionality."

The spokesperson emphasized, "DoorDash’s value lies not in where you place the order but in the full experience—covering reviews, personalization, fulfillment, and support."

Separately, DoorDash is also testing a standalone AI-powered social app called Zesty, designed to help users discover restaurants. The new product began public testing in New York and San Francisco on Monday.