Identify Major Components of DoorDash's Operational Costs

Q: Identify Major Components of DoorDash's Operational Costs

This is a Analytics & Experimentation interview question from DoorDash for Data Scientist roles. View the full question and solution on PracHub.

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Question

Operational Cost Structure and Data-Driven Optimization (Food Delivery Marketplace)

Scenario

Leadership wants to understand the end-to-end operational cost structure of a three-sided food delivery marketplace (customers, delivery workers, merchants) and identify ways to reduce costs without harming service quality.

Assume a typical on-demand delivery model with per-order variable costs and platform fixed/semi-fixed costs. The goal is to list major cost components and propose data-driven levers to optimize each while maintaining service levels (e.g., on-time delivery, NPS/CSAT, retention).

Question

List the major components of operational costs (group into variable per-order and fixed/semi-fixed platform costs).
For each component, describe specific data-driven approaches to optimize or lower that cost while preserving or improving service quality.

Consider components such as delivery pay, incentives, customer support, failed orders/refunds, packaging, and infrastructure. Propose levers like batching, dynamic pricing, and automation.

Identify Major Components of DoorDash's Operational Costs

Operational Cost Structure and Data-Driven Optimization (Food Delivery Marketplace)

Scenario

Question

Solution

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