DoorDash Plans To Acquire Instacart In $17 Billion Deal
The acquisition may significantly impact the retail media landscape, with media buyers questioning costs and capabilities. Advertisers are eager to learn about new ad capabilities and potential changes in media buying and pricing.
Original reporting · digiday.com
Original: “Here are the questions on advertisers’ minds after the DoorDash-Instacart deal”
Read “Here are the questions on advertisers’ minds after the DoorDash-Instacart deal” at Digiday →
How this was written. Clicktag wrote this article with a language model from Digiday’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Digiday’s report
- The DoorDash-Instacart acquisition may significantly impact the retail media landscape, with potential changes in costs and capabilities.
- The combined company could offer new ad capabilities, including closed-loop data reporting and a scaled ads platform.
- The deal is subject to approval by the Federal Trade Commission and must not be flagged as an antitrust violation.
- The acquisition may lead to retail media consolidation, as advertisers increasingly scrutinize their media spend and retailers seek to build scale.
- Independent, credible measurement will be crucial for retailers to win over ad dollars and demonstrate the value of their combined data and capabilities.
DoorDash's planned acquisition of Instacart, valued at approximately $17 billion, is expected to close by the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028. The deal is subject to approval by the Federal Trade Commission and must not be flagged as an antitrust violation. Media buyers are already considering the potential implications for the retail media landscape.
According to Digiday, the acquisition may lead to significant changes in the retail media landscape, but the impact will not be immediate. In the short term, the deal is not expected to disrupt the retail media landscape, but its long-term potential is substantial.
The combined company could offer new ad capabilities, including a single ecosystem with closed-loop data reporting and a scaled ads platform. This could provide advertisers with more valuable data and better measurement, but it also raises concerns about complexity and managing investments across multiple ecosystems.
DoorDash and Instacart already have separate ad businesses, DoorDash Ads and Instacart Ads, with their own tech offerings. The challenge will be integrating these advertising components without disrupting the media buying process. Advertisers are cautious about earmarking ad dollars in advance, given the time it takes for new ad programs to launch.
The acquisition may also lead to changes in media buying and pricing, with the potential for premium pricing due to the combined audience size and closed-loop reporting. However, the impact on pricing is uncertain, and advertisers are waiting to see how the deal will affect costs and capabilities.
The combined company will face significant competition from Walmart and Amazon, which are expected to dominate the retail media landscape. To compete, DoorDash and Instacart will need to demonstrate the value of their combined data and capabilities, and provide independent, credible measurement to advertisers.
The deal is seen as a potential starting point for retail media consolidation, as advertisers increasingly scrutinize their media spend and retailers seek to build scale and compete for ad dollars. The ability to provide independent, credible measurement and unify audiences will be crucial for retailers to win over ad dollars.
Questions and answers
What are the potential implications of the DoorDash-Instacart acquisition for advertisers?
The acquisition may lead to new ad capabilities, including closed-loop data reporting and a scaled ads platform, but it also raises concerns about complexity and managing investments across multiple ecosystems.
How will the acquisition affect media buying and pricing?
The impact on pricing is uncertain, but the combined company's audience size and closed-loop reporting may lead to premium pricing.
What are the key challenges for the combined company in competing with Walmart and Amazon?
The combined company will need to demonstrate the value of its combined data and capabilities, and provide independent, credible measurement to advertisers to compete with Walmart and Amazon.
