Delivery in 2024 Revisited
Recapping a wild year for the 3PDs, TNCs, delivery bots and gig work regulators
What a year! 2024 has seen its fair share of ups and downs: new product launches, huge partnerships and team ups, an explosion of delivery bots, drones and AVs duking it out, and even Grubhub finding a new owner. With the Modern Delivery team about to head off for a holiday respite, we thought we’d give you a big recap of the year’s greatest hits, below. Note the stories in bold are exclusive interviews and announcements. Hungry for more? Revisit our 2023 recap.
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January
DoorDash announces international push, Instacart adds ads to Caper Carts. DoL updates labor rules. Walmart makes drone push. Uber shutters Drizzly, Seattle enacts gig worker minimum wage and Nimbus’ CEO shares her thoughts on ghost kitchen success. Just Eat Takeaway GTV drops. Starship celebrates 5 years at GMU. NYC creates Department of Sustainable Delivery. Grubhub VP Poykayil Talks up "One-Stop Shop for Customers’ Demands."
February
Sweetgreen adds annual membership. Google kills direct ordering, Gopuff and Starbucks partner. Delivery Hero unveils weak FY23 results. Uber profitable. Instacart earnings fall short. Martie’s Louise Fritjofsson talks cheap, healthy online groceries. Uber Eats launches Cartken bots in Japan. DH kills Foodpanda sale. FTC sues Kroger-Albertsons merger. Uber adds SNAP/EBT features.
March
Amped Kitchen’s Mott Smith isn’t building a regular ghost kitchen. NYC pushes for courier ebike charging. IC adds 3 regional markets. DutchX’s Marcus Hoed wants to deliver by boat. DD adds worker safety features. TNCs threaten to leave MPLS. DD adds beauty brands. Wonder raises $700M. Sixth Circuit Court rules against pizza cheapskates. Lowe’s launches on DD and Shipt. IC adds Food Experience API, Amazon Pharmacy heads to NYC/LA. Curbivore 2024!
April
Unpacking Uber & DeliverZero’s West Coast launch, Nickelytics & Starship’s new partnership, from Curbivore ‘24. Waymo launches in Phoenix. Ola exits UK/Oz. LockerNYC launches. JET leaves NZ, Second Measures shares final 3PD market share update. Grubhub adds Mercato. Craveworthy Brand’s crowdfunding falters. Amazon adds cheaper grocery subscriptions.
May
UE delivers growth for Domino’s. DD orders up, stock down. IC adds Kohl’s. UE and IC partner up. Uber swings to a loss. IC beats forecast. Calif. adds price transparency laws. UE buys Foodpanda Taiwan. Amazon adds Lucky Supermarkets. Walmart baffles with “Realm.” Bolt adds package delivery. Deliveroo workers protest. Amazon deepens GH partnership.
June
Boston cracks down on 3PD drivers. Whizz CEO shares fundraising news. Piatto founder wants to build inclusive hospitality. DD gets boozier. NYT adds IC recipes. Wolt debuts merchant financing. UE UK adds courier pick and pack. ChowNow’s Chris Webb talks acquisitions. GH adds Albertsons. Mass. AG and TNCs settle.
July
CloudKitchens launches Picnic. DH faces antitrust fine. Cartken raises $10M. Courier wages in NYC skyrocket. Serve shares PR secrets. GH turns 20. Food delivery cannibalizes rideshare? Waymo and Vayu fundraise. Prop. 22 ruled constitutional. IC adds light up tags, Nuro tests R3.
August
DD orders climb 19%. CargoB launches in Boston. Chipotle CEO jumps to Starbucks. Delivery and ads power Walmart growth. Walmart and DroneUp retrench. CfA adds mega drive-thru, GH campus adds 60 schools.
September
HungryPanda raises $55 million, Gopuff adds shoppable ads, 3PDs win data sharing lawsuit against NYC.
October
Uber partners with Avride. DD adds regional grocers. Tesla robotaxis disappoint. Serve debuts new bots. Making sense of Seattle. GH adds Amazon Key. Walmart adds same-day Rx. Waymo raises $5.6B.
November
MealMe raises $8M. Uber grows 20%. Amazon drones on in Phoenix. DH GMV picks up. Talabat readies for IPO. DD adds unified search. Chipotle adds 1,000th Chipotlane. LifeSaver’s Ted Chen talks fleet safety. Kia debuts futuristic van.
December
DoorDash partners with Walmart Canada, JET leaves France and LSE. Forage’s Ofek Lavian wants to make SNAP access easy.
A Few Good Links
Toast confirms Uber Direct partnership. (See Wednesday’s investigation.) Party in the drive-thru. Amazon adds holiday tips for drivers. Dollar General adds store-based delivery in bid to fight Shein, Temu. IC partners with Medical Home Network. Best Buy adds scheduled deliveries. CBD vacancies worst in Dayton, Dallas. DC sues Amazon over slow Prime deliveries in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Zag Daily’s editor talks UK delivery. Musk donated $260M to Trump. EV charging struggles in Vietnam.
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