100%
increase in year-over-year DoorDash sales
50%
of Mi Vida's DoorDash orders come from new customers
15X+
return on ad spend (ROAS) on DoorDash marketing campaigns
Meet Mi Vida
Named for a term of endearment commonly used in Mexico, Mi Vida is a vibrant restaurant offering delicious dishes across three Washington D.C. locations. Part of KNEAD Hospitality + Design, the restaurant is known for its vibrant menu crafted by Mexico City-born Chef Roberto Santibañez.
The Mi Vida team is planning to open two new locations in 2025, bringing the restaurant's high-quality food and energetic atmosphere to Virginia Beach and Philadelphia.
A pandemic pivot
Like many restaurants, the COVID-19 crisis ushered in many challenges for Mi Vida, requiring them to implement creative solutions to stay open during a trying time. According to Susan Briggs, Regional Director of Operations at KNEAD Hospitality + Design, "Once COVID happened, we really had to think on our toes and be a little bit more strategic about how we were going to have different revenue streams."
Before the COVID-19 crisis Briggs had previously been apprehensive about partnering with third-party delivery services like DoorDash. But, she found that during the pandemic "delivery services worked hard to become more efficient and effective." The challenges of COVID-19 paired with Briggs' added confidence in third-party delivery, set the stage for Mi Vida to join DoorDash in early 2022.
Although Mi Vida started with DoorDash to keep business flowing during the pandemic, they've continued to thrive on the platform. Today, Mi Vida leverages Marketplace to boost repeat business and turn delivery-only customers into in-person diners.
"A customer who lives 20 minutes from Mi Vida may not want to travel here two or three times a week. But if they can have it delivered to their door, maybe they'll have our enchiladas more often."
Driving incremental revenue with DoorDash
With established locations, equipment, and teams already in place, DoorDash is a key driver of incremental revenue and profitability for Mi Vida.
Compared to a year ago, Mi Vida has doubled their DoorDash sales overall, and tripled their sales at the 14th Street location. Today, DoorDash accounts for 5-10% of Mi Vida's overall revenue, depending on the location, and 50% of their DoorDash orders come from new customers.
"We're only paying for food costs because the infrastructure is already there, so any additional revenue that comes through DoorDash at that point is completely incremental. It's a huge portion of our revenue strategy."
Increasing efficiency with a POS integration
Briggs credits Mi Vida's success with DoorDash in large part to integrating the third-party delivery app with their point-of-sale (POS) provider. Through the integration, DoorDash orders are sent directly to Mi Vida's Kitchen Display System (KDS), helping reduce manual tasks for the restaurant's POS operator and making reconciliation a cinch.
"We have seen huge success with our POS integration, and it's so much easier for our operators. They don't have to worry about ringing up or closing out anything since the orders get sent right to the KDS, and there's a lot less work for our accountants too."
In addition to streamlining day-to-day operations, the integration reduces the clerical headache of menu updates. When Briggs and her team update items or menu photos through their POS system, the changes automatically appear on their DoorDash store.
Boosting success with Promotions and Sponsored Listings
Briggs quickly became a DoorDash Promotions and Sponsored Listings power user, achieving a 15% or higher return on ad spend (ROAS) across their campaigns. With promotions, merchants can entice DoorDash users to order from their restaurants by offering discounts and specials that appear in the Offers tab of the DoorDash app. Sponsored Listings on the other hand are in-app advertisements — where merchants only pay when they receive an order.
"DoorDash Promotions and Sponsored Listings have been a game changer in our success. We do buy one get one, dollars off after a certain amount of spend, happy hour, lunch specials — all of it!"
Mi Vida always keeps Promotions and Sponsored Listings running to be competitive against surrounding restaurants and boost their visibility on the DoorDash app. Leveraging these marketing tools helps make Mi Vida an obvious choice for DoorDash customers searching for their next meal.
DashPass for the win
In addition to Promotions and Sponsored Listings, Mi Vida also optimizes their DoorDash experience by being a DashPass store. DashPass is a customer membership program that incentivizes more frequent orders with member-only offers and items, free delivery fees, and lower service fees on eligible orders.
Mi Vida counts on DashPass to boost repeat customers, and attributes 67% of their DoorDash orders to DashPass customers.
Expansion with a side of success
With new locations opening later this year, the Mi Vida team will continue to partner with DoorDash to help them achieve the results they've seen at their Washington D.C. restaurants. While the restaurant industry has faced their share of challenges in recent years, Briggs maintains that the future is bright for Mi Vida.
"We're in the restaurant industry, so we're always going to have some challenges, especially in DC," she said. "We're a dynamic industry that's shown we can overcome any of these challenges, and we become smarter and better operators as a result."
