DoorDash, one of the nation's largest mobile delivery platforms, has launched a feature to make restaurant to-go orders more efficient for merchants and customers amid social distancing, according to a blog post on Medium.

The technology uses cell phone location data to alert a restaurant when a customer is approaching a store, which will help avoid excessive wait times during pickups for online orders. The customer, however, must agree to opt-in to allow location data to be tracked. 

DoorDash also released results from a survey that explored why customers choose take-out orders.

The survey found that 56% of customers said their take-out orders have increased in size during the pandemic. The study also said consumers aged 35-54 were the largest pick-up adopters as they ordered multiple times a week during March and April. 

The survey also found that 44% of respondents said affordability was the top reason they chose carry-out service.

Lastly, 82% said they took food home to eat after picking it up. 

The survey of 1,000 customers, conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of DoorDash, was conducted between March 1 and March 6 of this year.