DoorDash offers $17 billion for Instacart in what would be a big
consolidation for grocery delivery
[October 30, 2026] By
DEE-ANN DURBIN
DoorDash is offering $17 billion to buy Instacart in a deal that could
consolidate the grocery delivery business in the U.S. and abroad.
The companies say the tie-up would combine DoorDash's global reach and
expertise in logistics with Instacart's purpose-built technology and
long relationships with grocers. It could also help the companies better
compete with rivals like Amazon.
But it could also lead to less competition in the delivery space, which
could raise prices for consumers and give grocers fewer partners to
negotiate with.
“They were competing for a share of consumers' wallet," said Randall
Sargent, a partner specializing in grocery and retail at the consulting
firm Oliver Wyman. “As a general economic principle, less competition
and more consolidation tends to be worse for consumers.”
The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of 2027 or in early 2028
if it’s approved by Instacart shareholders and government regulators.
Instacart's name and app will remain
Instacart, founded in 2012, specializes in grocery and convenience store
delivery in the U.S. and Canada. DoorDash said the Instacart brand name
and app would remain, and Instacart's 600,000 shoppers — who are
independent contractors — would be able to continue fulfilling orders as
before.
Consumers who are currently paying $9.99 per month for separate DashPass
and Instacart+ memberships, which give them free delivery on most orders
and other perks, would be able to pay one fee instead of two, DoorDash
said. Instacart customers would also have access to 50,000 additional
stores that are on DoorDash's platform.
Grocers would also be able to choose either delivery platform. Tony Xu,
DoorDash's co-founder and CEO, said the deal could help local grocers
compete with larger players. Walmart is the largest U.S. grocer, with
21% share of spending, followed by Costco and Amazon, which each have 8%
share, according to Numerator, a market research company.
“Over the past decade or even two decades, what you see is the largest
companies are only eating more and more of the pie. Why is that? It’s
because they’ve invested aggressively into capabilities like a modern
technology stack, like fast delivery, like new fulfillment models,” Xu
said Thursday during a conference call with investors. “That’s what this
combination is really about, where DoorDash and Instacart can give every
retailer a fighting chance at competing in the modern-day era.”
The deal would also help DoorDash and Instacart fend off rivals like
Walmart, which has been moving into restaurant delivery. Walmart
partnered with Subway, its largest in-store restaurant tenant, this past
summer and has since expanded to select locations at Dunkin’ and Papa
Johns. The company said it now has 2,400 restaurant locations on its
restaurant delivery platform.
DoorDash has been growing its grocery business
DoorDash, founded in San Francisco in 2013, began as a restaurant
delivery business but has expanded to pet food, electronics and many
other products. Operating in 40 countries, it completed more than 3
billion orders last year using a network of 9 million independent
delivery workers. That dwarfs Instacart, which fulfilled 338 million
orders last year. DoorDash has a market value of $73 billion.
DoorDash began delivering groceries in 2020 amid a surge in pandemic-era
demand. Grocers were initially cautious. Kroger partnered with the San
Francisco company in 2022 but initially allowed the company to deliver
only flowers, sushi and prepared meals from a limited number of stores.
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A food delivery rider waits at a traffic light, March 30, 2020, in
Lone Tree, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
 The partnership expanded last fall,
and DoorDash now lists the full inventory of all 2,700 U.S. Kroger
stores in its online marketplace. DoorDash scored another coup last
month when it added delivery from Costco.
DoorDash’s move into grocery has hurt Instacart. Five years ago,
Instacart commanded 26% of spending on U.S. delivery platforms; that
share has fallen to 18%, according to Consumer Edge, a market
research company. DoorDash’s share grew from 44% to 59% in that same
period. Uber Eats’ share held steady at just under 20%.
Combined company could attract more ads, but also scrutiny
Sargent said a combined DoorDash and Instacart could potentially
attract more ad revenue from food companies. Right now, Instacart
can only share what consumers put in their baskets, for example, but
a combined company could also show them what customers ordered for
takeout lunch.
“Food companies want to spread their ad dollars around and reach
customers efficiently,” Sargent said. “The more you can hand them an
audience that you know all about, the more formidable a challenger
this new company is.”
But the tie-up will also be subject to scrutiny from antitrust
regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere, particularly at a time when
consumers are agitated about food price inflation. Ethan Litwin, an
antitrust attorney and partner with New York-based Shinder Cantor
Lerner, said it could be problematic if DoorDash controls
Instacart's technology, since many grocers use that technology to
power their online storefronts.
“DoorDash could therefore cut rivals off, outmatch them on targeting
and logistics, or monitor competitors’ pricing and discounting in
real time, which could facilitate coordination on pricing,” Litwin
said. “I expect that the parties will call these efficiencies, but
an advantage big enough to build a monopoly will not stay
consumer-friendly for long.”
Acquisition was discussed for a while
Apoorva Mehta, who founded Instacart but left the company after its
initial public offering in 2023, said Thursday that he and Xu had
explored the idea of combining Instacart and DoorDash for years.
“We kept coming back to it because the industrial logic has always
been clear. Customers have 21 meals a week to figure out. Groceries
and restaurant delivery each solve part of that problem. Serving
customers well means bringing together the best of both,” he said.
Mehta said the combination would also benefit shoppers, who would
have more opportunities to earn money.
It wasn't immediately clear how delivery drivers would be impacted
by a combined company. The Associated Press left a message seeking
comment from the Service Employees International Union, which has
unionized gig workers in California.
Litwin said combining DoorDash and Instacart would potentially give
drivers fewer options.
“In many markets, these two companies are two of the three major
buyers of shopper labor,” he said.
DoorDash shares were up 5% in Thursday afternoon trading. Instacart
shares were down 1.6%.
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AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio contributed from New York.
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