Case Study – Retail

Executive Summary

DoorDash’s fast-growing Dasher network plays a vital role in powering the delivery economy. However, legacy touch-tone IVR systems failed to keep pace with the volume and complexity of Dasher support needs—leading to long wait times, frequent misroutes, and high agent dependency for simple issues. Dashers often resorted to pressing “0” to speak with an agent, bypassing self-service entirely.

To improve the Dasher voice experience, DoorDash partnered with CloudCookies to implement a conversational AI solution using Amazon Connect and Amazon Lex. The goal was to achieve greater than 80% routing accuracy, dramatically increase self-service adoption, and reduce operational overhead through containment of high-volume issues, delivering an additional annual savings exceeding $1.5 million.

CloudCookies delivered a scalable solution tailored to the realities of Dashers on the go—delivering faster answers, higher resolution rates, and seamless handoffs when needed. With 23 intents implemented and 98% adoption, the engagement transformed how Dashers get support and laid the groundwork for future automation.

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“In less than 4 months, we achieved measurable success with conversational AI and self-service while building repeatable processes for future engagements. We couldn’t have done it without CloudCookies!”

-Chaitanya Hari, DoorDash Product Manager

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Customer Challenge

As a multi-sided marketplace, DoorDash must ensure timely, high-quality support for its fleet of Dashers across the U.S. The existing touch-tone IVR experience was unintuitive and inflexible, forcing Dashers—often mid-delivery—to navigate lengthy menus for even basic issues like order pickup or red card problems.

This system created friction and inefficiencies:

• Dashers frequently pressed “0” to bypass the system, leading to misrouted calls
• Self-service was underutilized, despite being available for common requests
• Agents were burdened with handling high volumes of easily automatable issues

DoorDash sought a better way. They aimed to implement a conversational voice solution that could:

• Improve routing accuracy to over 80%
• Increase self-service adoption and containment
• Deliver a responsive, intuitive experience for Dashers working in noisy, time-sensitive environments

To execute this vision, DoorDash turned to CloudCookies—an AWS Conversational AI partner with expertise in scalable voice automation, NLP design, and machine learning-driven support systems.

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Partner Solution

CloudCookies worked with DoorDash to overhaul the Dasher IVR experience—moving from a rigid, menu-based system to a dynamic, natural language interface powered by Amazon Lex.

The engagement focused on three core areas:

1. Voice Interface. CloudCookies designed a voice interface that aligned with Dashers’ real-world constraints—frequent interruptions, background noise, and short windows to complete tasks. Enhancements included:

• Barge-in support, allowing Dashers to interrupt prompts mid-flow
• Dynamic fallback to touch-tone (DTMF) for non-responsive or noisy calls
• Context-aware prompts and skip logic based on previous responses

2. Real-Time API Integration. To enable true self-service, CloudCookies integrated Amazon Connect with DoorDash’s internal APIs via AWS Lambda. This allowed Dashers to:

• Cancel or unassign orders
• Check pay and tax information
• Resolve red card or background check issues
• Get real-time order status updates

3. Agile Testing & Continuous Optimization. The team applied continuous A/B testing to evaluate the performance of conversational workflows against the legacy experience. Prompts were refined weekly, and confidence thresholds tuned to improve both containment and customer satisfaction.

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Additional features included fuzzy logic for order IDs, free-form input collection, custom slot types, voice collection for complex alphanumeric data, and CloudCookies self-service performance benchmark for regression testing. To measure the impact, containment, deflection, and engagement return on investment (ROI) were assessed to develop a business plan for future engagements. The implementation process aimed for operational excellence, efficient tuning, and the promotion of self-sufficiency, with CloudCookies providing break/fix support and staff augmentation.

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Why CloudCookies

Results

CloudCookies’ solution for DoorDash Dashers delivered measurable impact across every major KPI:

• Achieved $1.5M in annual operational cost savings (OPEX) by deflecting calls from agents to automated workflows.
• Drove a 218% increase in self-service adoption over the previous touch-tone system.
• Delivered an 81% improvement in containment, reducing agent load for common issues.
• Increased intent accuracy to 89.87% across 23 intents—including background checks, order issues, and pay inquiries.
• Reached 98.35% adoption, showing strong Dasher engagement with the conversational system.
• Reduced friction in the support flow, with 93.2% of callers experiencing fewer than 4 errors.
• Demonstrated clear ROI by enabling faster resolution, lower handle times, and higher NLU precision—setting the stage for future global rollout.

Building on this success, DoorDash plans to expand Dasher support with multilingual experiences, additional self-service workflows, and predictive AI routing to further enhance efficiency and satisfaction.

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About CloudCookies

CloudCookies is a distinguished Advanced Tier AWS Technology and Consulting Partner, specializing in business process automation, conversational design, and self-service solutions. We exclusively harness the power of AWS services to provide innovative solutions for our clients. Our services cover consulting, migration, integration, custom development, training, and support, ensuring our clients receive top-tier expertise. What sets CloudCookies apart is our extensive experience and deep knowledge, making us the preferred choice for those seeking transformative AWS solutions that break the mold.

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