DoorDash's $17B Instacart Deal Would Control 77% of Delivery Spend

DoorDash has proposed buying Instacart for $17 billion, a deal that would combine two platforms responsible for 77% of consumer spending on U.S. delivery platforms, according to market research firm Consumer Edge. That number alone explains why Uber and Amazon are paying attention.

The growth figures make DoorDash's eagerness look, at first glance, slightly odd. Revenue grew nearly 24% between 2023 and 2024, and nearly 28% between 2024 and 2025, as the company expanded beyond restaurant delivery into apparel retail partnerships and its own delivery-only convenience store, DashMart. When you're outgrowing everyone, why buy a slower rival?

Instacart's share of U.S. delivery platform spending has fallen from 26% to 18% over the past five years, per Consumer Edge. Uber Eats, meanwhile, has held steady at just under 20% for the same period. So DoorDash is acquiring a shrinking asset at a gargantuan price.

What does this change for Amazon?

Analysts say the real driver is Amazon. "Amazon is moving toward delivering things faster and faster," said John Harmon, managing director of technology research at Coresight Research.

Amazon spent this year encroaching directly on DoorDash's territory. In May it launched Amazon Now, now live in dozens of major U.S. cities, promising delivery of thousands of goods — groceries to household essentials — in 30 minutes or less. In March, it rolled out one-hour delivery in hundreds of cities. Having become synonymous with two-day shipping through Prime, Amazon could now own the 30-minute frame in consumers' minds. That's the risk keeping DoorDash executives awake.

DoorDash's announcement leaned heavily on local stores. The press release argued that the combined company can offer grocers and restaurants technology and fulfillment services they couldn't afford independently — likely a nod to easing antitrust concerns too.

"More grocers could deploy Instacart's technology to run their own websites and retail media networks, bringing them more sales and advertising revenue," the release stated. Brands would gain a scaled alternative for reaching customers online, and grocers could add online-order capacity through DashMart fulfillment.

What does this change for Uber?

Two of Uber's most formidable U.S. competitors would team up. Uber's answer runs through scale abroad: in July, it announced its intent to acquire Germany's Delivery Hero for $15 billion, a deal that per Reuters would "create the largest food-delivery group outside of China."

Uber also holds one card DoorDash lacks: ridesharing. Recent investments — autonomous vehicles, growth of the Uber One subscription — aim squarely at improving ridesharing margins, and that business gives advertisers targeting options DoorDash can't match.

What does this change for advertisers?

Retail media may be where the merger pays off most. Combining data from restaurant delivery orders and Instacart grocery orders in one platform would allow more granular targeting across purchasing occasions.

"If someone is exposed to an ad on DoorDash but then made a purchase through Instacart at a respective grocery or retail location, that allows more measured outcomes that can be proved," said Greg Carlucci, senior director analyst at Gartner.

Uber's counter-argument: it can reach consumers during rides — moments like traveling or vacationing that a combined DoorDash-Instacart ad platform can't easily touch.

The broader picture is simple. DoorDash, Uber and Amazon are all racing to add services and capture a bigger share of customer wallets in last-mile delivery, and the stakes keep climbing. "Last-mile delivery is [kind] of the last frontier where it controls a lot of additional transactions," Carlucci said. For brands weighing where to place retail media dollars next year, a 77%-share platform is hard to ignore.