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The State of Local Commerce in 2025: What SMB Owners Really Need to Know

The State of Local Commerce in 2025: What SMB Owners Really Need to Know




Insights from DoorDash's State of Local Commerce 2025 Report

By Shashi Bellamkonda | November 24, 2025

If you run a small or medium‑sized business—especially a restaurant, café, or local retail shop—the latest DoorDash "State of Local Commerce 2025" report has a surprisingly optimistic message for you: local commerce isn't dying, it's adapting and growing.

This post summarizes and interprets findings from the DoorDash State of Local Commerce 2025 report (source and full PDF) and translates them into practical takeaways for SMB owners.

DoorDash's data comes from millions of real transactions on its platform, combined with external sources like U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That makes it one of the clearest windows into how people actually spend, eat, work, travel, and move today.

1. Prices Are Stabilizing, But Customers Are Still Spending

According to DoorDash's report:

  • The average cost of a cheeseburger, fries, and soda (the "DoorDash Cheeseburger Index") rose only 3.8% over 12 months.
  • The Breakfast Basics Index (breakfast grocery staples) is down ~1.7% year‑over‑year and 14% over six months.
  • Prices for everyday essentials have remained broadly flat in recent months.
  • Yet total restaurant spending is up 6.3% year over year, and overall food spending is up 4.9%, per DoorDash's analysis of U.S. Census retail and food services data.

DoorDash also compares a fixed-price index to a floating-price index. Between April and August 2025, the floating index was higher, which means customers were often opting for more expensive items even when cheaper alternatives were available.

What this means for you

You don't have to win the race to the bottom.

  • The data shows customers are still willing to spend when they perceive value.
  • You can hold prices or raise them strategically, especially where your quality or experience stands out.
  • A "good–better–best" structure works well:
    • A basic, accessible option.
    • A solid mid‑tier "go‑to" option.
    • A premium, higher‑margin option for people who want to trade up.

The report's pricing data supports the idea that being compelling at your price matters more than being the cheapest.

2. Local Businesses Are More Resilient Than the Headlines Suggest

DoorDash's platform data paints a relatively positive picture for local restaurants:

  • 93% of local restaurants on DoorDash as of September 2024 were still open 12 months later.
  • The average growth rate of new restaurants joining DoorDash is over 18% nationally.
  • From consumer surveys cited in the report:
    • 72% of respondents say they're seeing the same or more new merchants in their communities compared to the prior year.
    • 56% say they saw no closures or fewer closures than the year before.

What this means for you

The DoorDash report suggests that local entrepreneurship is holding up—and even expanding.

  • If you're not active on major delivery/discovery platforms, you may be missing real demand.
  • If you are, the question is how well you're using that channel:
    • Strong photos.
    • Clear, benefit‑driven descriptions.
    • Smart bundles and promos, rather than blanket discounts.

DoorDash's numbers show that being discoverable and convenient online is a key driver of resilience.

3. Wages Are Rising Faster Than Restaurant Prices

Drawing on Bureau of Labor Statistics data and its own Restaurant Price Index (RPI), the report notes:

  • In about half of U.S. cities, wage growth outpaced RPI growth in 2024 compared to 2023.
  • Nationally, since January 2024, median wage growth has exceeded restaurant price growth.

What this means for you

Labor is more expensive, but customers also have more income, and DoorDash's data shows they're spending more on food, especially at restaurants.

  • Instead of focusing only on hourly wage cuts, aim to improve revenue and output per labor hour:
    • Streamline menus toward what sells and travels well.
    • Batch prep.
    • Use tech to reduce friction and errors.
  • Tie price increases to visible improvements (better packaging, faster fulfillment, better ingredients) so customers feel the difference.

The wage vs. price relationship in the report is a reminder that it's not just about saving costs—it's about using higher labor costs to drive higher value and revenue.

4. Lunch Is Back, Travel Is Up, and Flexible Work Is Normal

From DoorDash's location and time‑of‑day data:

  • Lunchtime order patterns show downtown districts are recovering, with return‑to‑office activity up in more than half of cities.
  • Travel‑related orders (people ordering away from their usual home address) suggest travel continues to grow year over year.
  • On the work side, DoorDash's 2025 Dasher survey reveals:
    • In 2019, fewer than 1 in 200 adults in the U.S. tried dashing for the first time.
    • Over the years since, that figure is about 1 in 15 adults.
    • Dashers work <4 hours per week on average, and 50% have full‑ or part‑time jobs outside of dashing.
    • Younger Dashers (18–24) dash more in summer and prefer late‑night hours; older Dashers prefer mornings.

What this means for you

Align your business with when and where demand actually shows up:

  • Near offices or downtown?
    • The data supports investing in lunch: office‑friendly combos, fast prep, reliable delivery.
  • In a travel‑heavy or leisure area?
    • Focus on evenings and weekends, with simple, visitor‑friendly menus online.

DoorDash's findings also imply that the workforce itself is more flexible and part‑time, which supports more flexible staffing models for SMBs.

5. Families Are Moving Where Their Dollars Go Further

One of the more novel insights in the report is around kids' meals:

  • DoorDash finds that the share of restaurant orders containing kids' meals strongly correlates with the share of children (ages 5–9) in a city, using U.S. Census data.
  • This makes kids' meals a real‑time indicator of where families are living.
  • The pattern: families are settling where their money goes further, often shifting toward more affordable neighborhoods and cities.

What this means for you

Let your neighborhood's family footprint dictate your strategy:

  • In family‑dense areas:
    • Offer kids' menus, family bundles, and early evening deals.
    • Emphasize convenience and predictability for parents.
  • In areas with fewer families:
    • Focus on your real core segments (office workers, singles, couples, tourists) and design offers for them.

The DoorDash report essentially gives you a way to think about your market using kids' meals as a proxy for families.

6. Your Online Presence Is Now a Core Channel, Not a Side Project

The DoorDash State of Local Commerce 2025 report exists because so much commerce is now digitally mediated—ordered, paid for, and delivered through apps.

What that means in practice:

  • If your business isn't easily discoverable and orderable online, you're invisible to a growing share of demand.
  • DoorDash's own insights depend on that digital participation.

What this means for you

Treat your online presence (on DoorDash and elsewhere) as front‑line real estate:

  • Optimize photos, descriptions, and categories on delivery apps.
  • Keep your hours, menu, and availability accurate to avoid cancellations and negative experiences.
  • Use platform analytics—top items, peak hours, repeat orders—as free business intelligence.

DoorDash's report is effectively a case study in how powerful transaction data is for understanding local commerce. You can use your own version of that same data to run your business smarter.

7. Five Actionable Steps for SMB Owners (Based on the Report)

Grounded in the trends from DoorDash's State of Local Commerce 2025, here are five things you can implement soon:

  1. Create "trade‑up" versions of your best sellers
    Use the insight that people are still willing to spend more:
    • Add premium variants with better ingredients or portions.
    • Price them for healthy margins.
  2. Launch at least two strategic bundles
    • A lunch bundle tailored to office or daytime customers.
    • A family or group bundle where kids' meals or shareable mains make it easy for 3–4 people to order at once.
  3. Upgrade your online listings
    • Swap out any poor images.
    • Tighten up names and descriptions so they're fast to scan on a phone.
    • Highlight a "Most Popular" or "This Week's Favorites" section.
  4. Match staffing to real demand
    • Use your order data to find the busiest hours—lunch, early evening, late night—and schedule your strongest staff there.
    • Simplify the menu during slow times rather than over‑staffing.
  5. Design one anchor offer for your primary audience
    • Families? A "Family Night In" bundle or kids‑focused deal.
    • Office workers? Repeat‑order‑friendly boxed lunches or catering packs.
    • Tourists? A "Top 5 Local Favorites" section that's easy to choose from.

Source & Attribution

All data points and macro‑trends referenced in this post are drawn from:

DoorDash – State of Local Commerce 2025

Interpretation, commentary, and suggested SMB actions are my own, based on those reported findings.

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