doordash

Ultrafast grocery firm Jokr pulling out of US, selling assets

Grocery delivery bag on porch

As I wrote back in May, instant grocery delivery has reached an inflection point. 

Throughout the pandemic, investors poured boatloads of cash into ultrafast delivery startups, some of which had valuations north of $10 billion. But the promise investors initially saw in quick commerce has gradually evaporated.

It’s been a tumultuous few months for ultrafast delivery startups, and New York’s Jokr is the latest casualty. The company this week revealed that it would scrap its small share of the U.S....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ultrafast-grocery-firm-jokr-pulling-out-of-us-selling-assets

Politicians demand answers from gig economy companies on driver safety

Sign for Uber and Lyft riders in airport

A group of U.S. senators and representatives from Massachusetts have written letters to the CEOs of Uber, Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash and Grubhub, demanding answers to questions regarding the health and safety of their app-based workers.

The letters, dated May 31, request answers to seven questions by June 21. Most of the questions focus on the health and safety of the workers, but the group also requested an answer to whether app-based delivery workers are required to sign an arbitration...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/politicians-demand-answers-from-gig-economy-companies-on-driver-safety

Uber Eats piloting on-demand grocery delivery

uber eats delivery driver

In the U.S. food delivery landscape, there’s been one big eater. DoorDash has dominated the category among third-party delivery apps, growing its market share among the big three food delivery platforms — Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub — to a staggering 57%.

In the grocery delivery space, though, it’s anybody’s war to win.

Instacart has long reigned supreme in grocery. It’s held greater than a 60% share in the market for online grocery pickup and delivery spend since April 2020, according to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-eats-piloting-on-demand-grocery-delivery

Massachusetts gig worker ballot initiative faces skeptical judges

A ballot initiative that would define gig drivers for companies like Uber may have trouble getting on the ballot in Massachussets.

The Massachusetts gig worker initiative, patterned after California’s Prop 22, may not make it to the ballot in November after all.

Two separate news reports on a court hearing held last week regarding the initiative both suggested that the state’s highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court was skeptical that the initiative, backed by Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, should qualify for the ballot. A report in Bloomberg Law described the judges who heard the argument as “wary.” A Reuters report from the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/massachusetts-gig-worker-ballot-initiative-faces-skeptical-judges

Robomart to deliver Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on-demand

Red and white delivery van

The direct-to-consumer shipping trend has gone cold – as in ice cream cold. Robomart, the on-demand retail store that sends a vehicle filled with items directly to the consumer, announced a partnership with Unilever to deliver that company’s famous ice cream brands, including Ben & Jerry’s and Breyers.

Robomart vehicles will deliver ice cream products under Unilever’s The Ice Cream Shop virtual brand name. The delivery products will include the aforementioned brands as well as Good Humor, Magnum...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/robomart-store-on-wheels-to-deliver-ben-and-jerrys-ice-cream-direct-to-homes

DoorDash is still dominating the food delivery wars

DoorDash scooter, company earnings released

DoorDash continues to dominate food and convenience delivery. Despite major investments in expanding the business into categories like grocery and alcohol, as well as into new countries, the third-party delivery app’s revenue continued to grow as it posted all-time highs in marketplace gross order value (GOV), monthly active users (MAUs), average order frequency and users of DashPass, its delivery subscription offering.

Shares of DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) were up around 7% in early post-market...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/doordash-is-still-dominating-the-food-delivery-wars

DoorDash to deliver for customers of food tech startup eGrowcery

DoorDash will now deliver groceries for customers of food retail e-commerce platform eGrowcery

Food delivery apps are hungry. After building themselves up as the go-to options for restaurant delivery, brands like Uber Eats and Grubhub are now looking to grocery as the next delivery frontier. 

Uber Eats (NYSE: UBER) kicked off its campaign last June through a partnership with Albertsons Cos. that brought same-day grocery delivery to 400 U.S. cities, while Grubhub (OCTUS: JTKWY) started its own grocery vertical in February via partnerships with 7-Eleven and ultrafast delivery startup Buyk.

No...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/doordash-to-deliver-for-customers-of-food-tech-startup-egrowcery

No holiday for delivery firms as fuel prices remain elevated

Fuel prices hurting delivery firms

As fuel prices have surged in the U.S., last-mile delivery companies have been put in a precarious position. Some have tried to implement surcharges to cover the added costs, while others already had surcharges in place for this scenario. But with fuel prices doubling in some areas in less than two weeks’ time, even surcharges will take time to recoup some of that increase.

In the last week, Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) have announced surcharges, and DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) has...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/no-holiday-for-delivery-firms-as-fuel-prices-remain-elevated

Park and pray: More delivery drivers park illegally amid curb congestion

Last-mile delivery has a parking problem, and it is hurting efficiency, raising costs and ultimately hurting the ability to attract new drivers.

Just 7.5% of drivers surveyed by curb management company Automotus said they are always able to find parking at the curb upon arrival, and 25% spend between four and seven minutes searching for a spot.

“From the data, we see that very few drivers are able to get a parking spot without circling around for several minutes,” said Anil Merchant, head of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/park-and-pray-more-delivery-drivers-park-illegally-amid-curb-congestion

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