Transcript
A (0:00)
GrubHub users can now also order groceries. According to Supermarket News, grubhub has partnered with Instacart to allow customers to order groceries from more than a thousand national, regional and local retailers directly through grubhub's app and website. Under the arrangement, orders are placed on grubhub's platform, but fulfilled and delivered by Instacart shoppers. Customers can access the service by selecting the grocery icon in the grubhub app, choosing a nearby store and adding items to their cart, and tracking delivery in real time. The service is rolling out starting October 28th and is expected to be available nationwide by the end of the week. In areas where Instacart operates, orders from select pharmacies will also be added in the coming months. Chris, what do you think of this strange bedfellow and first of a kind partnership between grubhub and Instacart?
B (0:50)
Oh man. And my first inclination is beware of Greeks bearing gifts. But I'll tell you about that more in a second because my first takeaway is that these last two headlines, particularly this one and the one prior, they show the rise of what we've long talked about on this show, which is that the third party delivery providers are being pushed into playing more of a white label service positioning throughout the market. I think we're going to continue to see that. We've talked about it. I feel like I talk about it every week at this point and it's just more evidence that it's coming. So that's point 1.2 though getting back to the Greek sparing gifts, the partner here is really fascinating to me and because Wonder, AKA Marc Laurie's super app for meal planning, owns grubhub. So if I'm Instacart, I'm stepping back strategically and I'm saying why the heck would I do this? Why would I give a leg up to someone that eventually wants to disintermediate me in his grand designs on how to attack the marketplace? And also, why would I throw a grubhub? What are my competitors? A lifeline like this? Grubhub has been flailing for years. I mean it's been, you know, bought and sold multiple times just over the last five years. So, so if I step back and I just look at this from like the landscape perspective, this is the same essentially as Instacart providing delivery for doordash and vice versa. So like I just don't understand why Instacart would do this. I don't understand their incentives And I question the move wholeheartedly. And I. And I wonder, too, if there isn't something, something else at play here, like, strategically, where Mark Laurie is, like, kind of baited the hook with Instacart and been like, hey, you can acquire us because we're going to create the super app for mealtime, you know, help us get it on board. And. And it sounds really sexy, and you should do it with me. And then, you know, God knows what happens from there. But I wouldn't, you know, very well could be at play knowing, knowing him and knowing the history of how he.