DoorDash has started providing on-demand delivery services from supermarkets operated by Raley’s, intensifying its efforts to grab market share in the third-party grocery delivery sector from industry leader Instacart.
Under the partnership announced Friday, DoorDash will deliver orders from 213 of the Western supermarkets chain’s stores, which operate under the Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods, Raley’s O-N-E Market, Bashas’, Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods banners. Shoppers who belong to DoorDash’s membership program, DashPass, will receive free delivery on orders of at least $35.
Shoppers can also purchase groceries for delivery from those banners through Instacart under arrangements that stretch back to before the pandemic, underscoring DoorDash’s efforts to directly compete with Instacart on turf it has long controlled.
DoorDash’s tie-up with Raley’s — which acquired Bashas’, Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods in late 2021 — is the latest in a string of pacts the delivery company has struck with grocery retailers over the past year.
Those partnerships include deals with Dollar General and BJ’s Wholesale Club to provide same-day delivery service, and an expanded arrangement with Schnuck Markets under which DoorDash is providing delivery of prepared foods from 25 of the St. Louis-based supermarket chain’s locations.
On Thursday, Southeastern Grocers said it would work with DoorDash to develop a white-label delivery and pickup service that lets shoppers place orders directly on the grocer’s own websites and apps and allows them to take advantage of in-store pricing and promotions.
In addition, DoorDash in February launched an express grocery delivery service and said Albertsons would be the first retailer to take advantage of the program, which makes a selection of products like dairy items and snacks available for delivery in less than a half-hour. The offering puts DoorDash up against Instacart’s 30-minute delivery service, which it offers in partnership with retailers including Kroger and Ahold Delhaize banners The Giant Company and Stop & Shop.
In a further sign of DoorDash’s aggressive efforts to build its presence in the grocery business, DoorDash acknowledged in February that it had started providing grocery delivery service from Target stores in certain markets even though it does not have an official partnership with the retailer.
For its part, Instacart has been working to position itself more broadly as a technology provider to retailers even as it works to expand its delivery capabilities.
The company announced Wednesday that it had acquired Rosie, an e-commerce startup that provides platforms independent and local retailers and wholesalers. In August, Instacart disclosed that it had bought Eversight, which runs an artificial intelligence-powered pricing and promotions platform. Last fall, the e-commerce company acquired smart cart maker Caper AI and FoodStorm, a catering software developer.
