What DoorDash’s Instacart acquisition says about the modern delivery platform pitch

Over the years, both DoorDash and Instacart have invested heavily in new services like AI assistants, advertising programs and in-store B-to-B solutions. DoorDash, in particular, has been on an expansion streak, acquiring U.K.-based competitor Deliveroo and restaurant reservations platform SevenRooms in 2025. Last year, DoorDash also acquired search ad startup Symbiosys for $175 million to deepen its advertising capabilities.

With the high cost of last-mile delivery, companies like DoorDash and Instacart have expanded well beyond delivering groceries and takeout.

Leah Sallen, U.S. head of CPG and retail strategy at programmatic ad tech platform MiQ, said the growing services and tools DoorDash has come to provide have made it more than just a marketplace for delivery. “Between delivery, grocery shopping, restaurant reservations and advertising, DoorDash is gaining access to more consumer touchpoints and insights into when, where and how people shop,” she said.

A one-stop tech solution for retailers 

Over the past few years, DoorDash has aggressively built out its non-restaurant marketplace, partnering with major grocery, convenience and retail brands like Ulta, Skims and Macy’s. The company also introduced logistics features to solve pain points, like Dasher Returns. On the technology side, DoorDash has rolled out AI-powered tools, such as Ask DoorDash for shopping recommendations, DashBuddy for courier support and DashOS for restaurant customer management. These solutions are meant to create an all-in-one ecosystem for B-to-B infrastructure and logistics streamlining.

Now, the Instacart consolidation will bring DoorDash grocery retailers that the platform currently does not offer its customers, notably Walmart and Sam’s Club. But with that market share also comes challenges in maintaining retail relationships by offering more than just delivery solutions.  

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said DoorDash’s latest hefty acquisition will require further streamlining to make sense as a long-term investment.

Saunders said Instacart’s operations still largely rely on workers manually picking groceries. He said this is not only labor-intensive, but it’s also harder to scale efficiently as digital grocery orders continue to grow. “Either way, DoorDash should aim to position itself as a technology and infrastructure partner rather than simply a delivery provider,” Saunders said.

Building a retail media empire  

Some experts believe DoorDash’s proactive strategy is to simply keep up with Amazon’s delivery offerings. However, retail media networks have also become an important revenue source for delivery platforms in recent years.

At its surface, the DoorDash-Instacart deal is about two massive last-mile companies consolidating. But for advertisers, it could mean a broader disruption in retail loyalty, said Sallen, as the two platforms’ merger brings together deep data on restaurant, grocery and retail shopping.

“We have already seen this play out with TikTok Shop, which fundamentally changed consumer shopping behavior by using sophisticated algorithms to deliver highly personalized product recommendations,” Sallen said. A similar shift can happen with this acquisition, Sallen said, thanks to the combination of DoorDash’s immediate-consumption insights and Instacart’s long-standing grocery data.  

Sallen explained that, similar to how Amazon became a starting point for shopping, consumers may increasingly turn to platforms like DoorDash to find the best product, price or delivery option before deciding which retailer to purchase from. In turn, she said, “That shift from selecting the retailer first to selecting the retailer last could prompt CPG brands to reconsider how they allocate their retail media dollars.”

Matt Gilbert, CEO of marketing platform Partnerize, agreed that the significance of a DoorDash and Instacart combination goes well beyond delivery. 

“It’s about the growing concentration of consumer discovery, advertising, purchasing decisions and transaction data within a single commerce ecosystem,” Gilbert said. For consumers, that could mean greater convenience and fewer steps between discovering a product and buying it. “For advertisers, it creates an opportunity to connect marketing investment more directly to purchasing behavior across more categories and occasions.” 

On the other hand, Gilbert said that when platforms increasingly control the consumer experience, the transaction and the reporting of advertising performance, advertisers need assurance that they’re measuring genuine incremental influence — “and not simply taking credit for purchases that would have happened anyway,” said Gilbert.

Sallen added that, as platforms like DoorDash add capabilities and AI increasingly influences shopping decisions, “The consumer path to purchase is becoming more diluted and harder for advertisers to follow.”  

That shift could become even more pronounced as AI agents increasingly help consumers weigh price, proximity and product availability before deciding what and where to buy. Sallen said this could mean delivery behemoths like DoorDash could have an advantage in shaping AI-driven recommendations to millions of consumers. “The more intelligence it [DoorDash] can bring together, the more personalized it can make the shopping experience,” Sallen said.

“DoorDash’s growing portfolio of services could position it as a one-stop shop for retailers, with data becoming one of its biggest advantages,” Sallen added.