Lyft Doubles Down on AV Expansion Plans - Launching in 2026
Albertsons' SNAP delivery discounts, Uber's strong Q4, 1-800-Flowers chooses Uber Direct
Well, yesterday’s game was a bit of a snooze-fest, eh? Maybe that left you with all the more time to appreciate the Super Bowl ads, which saw the 3PDs slugging it out for consumers’ fickle attention. The advertising experts at Adweek declared Uber Eats’ campaign — which we analyzed in detail last Friday — to be one of its top performers, while NPR also gave a shout to Instacart’s spot. In less MarCom-ey news, we’ve got big AV updates, new SNAP battles, a flowering partnership and Uber’s financial results to digest.
Today’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore 2025.
Today:
Lyft + Marubeni Bring AVs to Dallas
Albertsons SNAPs into Competition
Chart Time | Uber Earnings Up
1-800-Flowers Adds Uber Direct
AV | Lyft Planning Dallas Robotaxi Launch in 2026
Lyft is back in the driver’s seat, as the ridehailing player ups its autonomous vehicle ambitions. Lyft hopes to launch AVs in the Dallas-Fort Worth region as soon as 2026. To make this work operationally (and from a CapEx perspective,) the ridehailer is teaming up with Marubeni, a Japanese trading co with a strong background in logistics, energy, transportation and fleet management. After the Dallas launch, Lyft plans to expand to “thousands of vehicles across multiple cities,” with fleet ops assisted via its Flexdrive platform.
The Big Picture: Under the leadership of new-ish CEO David Risher, the number two TNC is back in growth mode. After selling its original AV arm to Toyota Woven in 2021, Lyft re-entered the AV arena via partnerships with Mobileye and May Mobility last fall. Might Lyft re-enter the delivery space as well? While the TNC shuttered its small-scale efforts in 2023, and ended a pilot with Walmart even earlier, it’s recently partnered with DoorDash, suggesting a renewed appetite for the sector.
EVENTS | Delivery & Mobility Comes Together at Curbivore 2025
Industry Dive just called Curbivore one of the “9 industry trade shows to attend in 2025.” Returning to the Downtown LA Arts District this April 10th and 11th, Curbivore brings together the world’s foremost fleet operators, restaurateurs, regulators, retailers, startups, technologists and policy makers to discuss the intersection of transportation systems, small business, urban design and commerce. Did you miss last week’s big sale price? Enter code SLOWPOKE to score $195 tickets for just a few days longer.
SNAP EBT | Albertsons Offers Discounted Delivery for SNAP Users
Albertsons is hoping to get food stamp users onto its first-party delivery program, with a just announced 50% discount on is FreshPass annual membership program. Priced at $49/year or $5.99/month for SNAP / EBT enrollees, the subscription includes free delivery on orders of $30+, 5% savings on select categories and $5 in monthly spending credit.
The Big Picture: The battle for SNAP users is getting competitive, as we saw with our recent interview with Forage's CEO Ofek Lavian. The 3PDs aren’t giving up the fight easily, with DoorDash just announcing new SNAP-enabled merchants: Wakefern Food Corp. (ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Fairway Market, and Gourmet Garage banners), Southeastern Grocers (Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie stores), and BJ’s Wholesale Club. Let’s hope Elon’s ghouls don’t manage to shut down this vital benefit program…
CHART TIME | Uber Hits $44 Billion in Revenue
Uber’s 2024 results came in, with revenue hitting $44 billion, while both delivery and mobility gross bookings climbed 18%. While the stock initially fell on soft guidance, it has since risen after Bill Ackman took a very public stake.
PARTNERSHIPS | 1-800-Flowers Taps Into Uber Direct
Floral giant 1-800-Flowers.com (do kids these days even know what an 800 number is?) is partnering up with Uber, tapping into the latter’s Uber Direct white-label delivery platform. Florists on 1-800-Flowers’ BLoomNet network will now be able to dispatch deliveries via Uber couriers, augmenting existing in-house fleets. The partnership is now live at over 1,000 shops.
The Big Picture: This tie-up goes live in time for Valentine’s Day, the busiest day for floral deliveries nationwide. Because demand on this holiday (as well as others like Mother’s Day) is so spiky, florists often don’t have the staffing to meet all the demand, causing them to turn away some orders. Last year, 1-800-Flowers announced a similar partnership with Walmart GoLocal, to give flower mongers yet another way to dispatch their blooming buds.
A Few Good Links
Grubhub confirms data breach. Over 75% of American adults use Amazon Prime. Kiwibot launches Cracker Barrel ad campaign. Zomato rebrands parent co to Eternal. Domino’s shutters 205 stores. Restaurants struggle with bad delivery reviews. Grab and GoTo resume merger talks. DoorDash adds Hustler Hollywood. Yum Brands creates digital tech unit, sees Taco Bell outperform other brands in Q4. USPS volume jumps. More chaos: Trump temporarily exempts China from new de minimis requirements, announces new 25% tariffs on metal, seeks to kill NYC congestion pricing. Weee! hires ex-Amazon advisor. Boostly raises $22M. Deliveroo launches sommelier service. Dara K talks robotaxi plans. Zedify’s legacy. Revel secures $60M in NY state funding. Harbinger exec shares plans to out-compete Ford and Freightliner. Gopuff adds group ordering. Wolt adds gifting. iFood appeals Brazilian court ruling banning order minimums.
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