Delivery in 2023 Revisited
Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub and Instacart make major moves
Wow, can you believe the year’s almost over, and that we launched this publication a whopping six months ago? From everyone at the Modern Delivery and Curbivore team, thanks so much for reading our quirky take on this quick moving industry.
We’ll be taking a few weeks off for the holidays, but we thought we’d send off 2023 with a special edition, where we recap the biggest moments of the year for Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub and Instacart.
Obviously the delivery industry is bigger than just those 3PD majors, but those four alone might already be too big for your inbox (you may need to click “view entire message” below.) Feel free to peruse our complete archive if you want to relive what happened in Europe, or dive deep into ghost kitchens, or get updates on your favorite robots. And who made the most news this year? Well according to those same archives, our titles mentioned Doordash 28 times, Instacart 28 times as well, Uber 26 times, and Grubhub 12 times. Other frequent fliers include Amazon (16,) Walmart (12,) UPS (8,) Delivery Hero (7,) Domino’s (7) and Deliveroo (7.)
If we’re to think about some of the macro trends affecting the overall industry, there’s of course the battle over pay and employment laws (especially in NYC, California and Europe,) a race to accept SNAP and healthcare benefit dollars, and the onboarding of all sorts of non-food related retailers. 2023 in a nutshell: order makeup with your health insurance, but expect to pay that courier a tad more.
Finally, if you enjoy this newsletter, we’d love it if you recommended it to a friend or colleague. Or just reply back with some of your favorite moments from the year.
And for the real final finally, do consider joining us in March for Curbivore, our annual conference bringing together the best and brightest from delivery, curb management, food/retail tech, mobility, and public policy. Tickets are just $175 through year’s end!
Have a great holidays, see you in January!
-Jonah Bliss, Harry Campbell and the Modern Delivery / Curbivore Crew
Uber Eats | Biggest Moments of 2023
Q1: Updates “Shop and Pay” to address out of stock items, digital payments and order clarity. (Announced at Curbivore as part of its “More Than Meets the Eye” panel with Erewhon Market.) Announces new safety features for women drivers. Teams up with BP Pulse on charging.
Q2: Releases merchant impact report. At Go-Get, rolls out features for families. New green initiatives. Adds features for LGBTQIA+ users. Summer savings promo.
Q3: Virtual brand massacre. Scores partnership with Domino’s. Posts operating profit. SF Giants stadium partnership. Robo-deliverer Serve, which spun out of Uber, files to go public. Launches new SNAP, EBT, Medicare, Medicaid payment options. Partners with The Fresh Market. Adds Oracle Collect and Receive.
Q4: Adds package returns. Multi-store ordering. Most craveable combos. Hits $221M in profit for previous quarter. Green fleets. Holiday promo. Holiday tools for merchants.
DoorDash | Biggest Moments of 2023
Q1: Expands Starbucks partnership. Targets students up with Chegg. ALDI deal. Adds Lush Cosmetics, Victoria’s Secret, Party City.
Q2: Previous quarter showed 27% YoY growth in orders, 29% jump to GOV. $1 weekend deals in Australia. Consumer preferences survey. Summer of DashPass. Big app update adds universal search, browse tab, grocery tab, retail tab and multiple carts. Also adds hourly pay model for workers, SNAP / EBT payments for consumers.
Q3: Teams with Zoomo to help vets. AI plans leaked. Opens ghost kitchen in San Jose. Announces prev. quarter record revenue. Worker reverification. Suspends SoCal service for pseudo-hurricane (remember that?) Automated phone ordering. Bans booze on MA campuses. Adds eight grocers. We reveal their local ads.
Q4: Partners with spooky retailer Spirit (you can guess which month this was.) Tests in-resto rewards. Revamps ad platform. Cravings report. Tip - or else! Orders surge. Driver safety tools. HSA, FSA payment options. Adds The Save Mart Cos. Local holiday marketing. 12 days of deals. Unveils new NYC pay structure. A decade of delights.
Grubhub | Biggest Moments of 2023
Q1: Partners with RapidSOS for driver safety. Reusable packaging on campus. Pushes anti-packaging bill in NYC. Adds direct ordering tools. Gives back to Chi-town. CEO shakeup. Partners with Transact Campus for ordering.
Q2: Partners w/ JOCO on ebikes. New restaurant tools. Renews Amazon Prime partnership. Teams with Hilton. Cuts 15% of staff, ~400 heads. Hot Ones promo.
Q3: Grubhub+ relaunches with lower fees. European overlords say Grubhub sale “proving difficult.” Partners w/ Sonesta. Adds supplemental delivery to let merchants dispatch couriers ad hoc. Onsite subsidiary heads to Naval Station Norfolk. New ad campaign with Snoop. Partners w/ Choice Hotels.
Q4: Parent company nears profitability, but Grubhub slips. Adds fuel rewards. Reveals 2023’s top dishes.
Instacart | Biggest Moments of 2023
Q1: Adds SNAP payments at 83 Raley’s markets in NorCal. New tools for grocers. Unveils Instacart Health. New ad tools for fresh produce. Adds marketing solutions.
Q2: Expands PetSmart deal. Powers Sprouts media network. Launches ALDI Express 30 min delivery. Updates FoodStorm and adds perks for workers.
Q3: Adds options for business customers. Rolls out SNAP payments nationwide. Readies for IPO. Teases ad growth. New shopper tools. Files S-1. Targets $26-28 share price. IPOs at $30, market sends to $42. Post-IPO, share price drifts back to earth. How will its early employees spend their newfound wealth?
Q4: Warns of weaker H2. Adds medicaid, medicare payments. Partners with Wellness West. Adds Camping World. Sales slip? Pushes food as health. First public quarterly results beat estimates. Holiday ad campaign. Adds Kiehl’s. Adds Finish Line, JD Sports. Bundles Peacock. Expands Kroger SNAP partnership. Releases economic impact report. Powers Fairway Now 30 min delivery.
A Few Good Links
Walmart brings BNPL to in-store self-checkout. Retailers are improving delivery speeds in time for the holidays. McDonald’s picks Accenture for AI enhancements. 2023’s most unexpected developments in restaurant robotics and automation. Omnichannel shoppers spend more. 2023 digital grocery highlights. New MUTCD updates the rules of the road. NJ cracks down on CC fees. Hub Group buys Forward Air’s last mile biz for $262M. Swiggy picks Simpl for easy checkout. Fawry and POS Mission launch restaurant management platform. Kroger launches free delivery for low income families in Dallas. Just Eat Takeaway.com trials in-car ordering app.
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