When it comes to two unlikely goliaths combining forces, it’s not on the scale of Iron Man and Spider-Man. But Uber Eats and Instacart are still pretty formidable. And they are pointing their combined super powers at DoorDash.
Instacart will soon introduce a restaurants tab to its app that will allow customers to place Uber Eats orders, according to an announcement from this morning. Instacart benefits through enhanced offerings on its platform, while Uber gets to take a swing at DoorDash by getting next to its coveted suburban base, which is also a strength of Instacart.
“You could say that we’re a threat to DoorDash both independently and teaming up as well,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshah in an interview with Bloomberg.
DoorDash controls about two-thirds of the market for food delivery. But since the pandemic it’s also been making inroads into grocery delivery. So this isn’t just an Uber-DoorDash battle. Instacart wants a piece of them as well.
The companies don’t plan to share drivers. Instacart will fulfill grocery orders, while restaurant orders will be handled by Uber Eats, even if they are received through the Instacart app. The deal will bring more customers to Uber Eats and new revenues to Instacart, which will receive money from Uber for every restaurant order. Instacart+ members will receive $0 delivery on grocery and restaurant orders over $35.
Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart
The partnership will allow customers to “tackle all their food news from a single app,” said Fidji Simo, CEO and chairman of Instacart.
DoorDash recently posted record revenue but with an unexpected amount of loss, keeping it in the red. Instacart and Uber are both profitable.
Partnerships between delivery apps and other companies aren’t new. What makes this one noteworthy is that it embeds the technology of one app into another.
Will this alliance prove to be an InstaSuccess? With the reach of both companies, it’s hard to see how it won’t. DoorDash may need to order a blood pressure monitor.
