Here are the questions on advertisers’ minds after the DoorDash-Instacart deal

“In the short term, I don’t expect this to meaningfully disrupt the retail media landscape. But longer term, the potential is significant,” said Nik Hengel, vp of analytics at New Engen digital marketing agency.

The deal still has to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and not flagged as an antitrust violation. In the meantime, however, media buyers are more concerned with costs, consolidation and capabilities.

Here are five questions media buyers and industry analysts have about the pending acquisition: 

What new ad capabilities could a combined DoorDash and Instacart offer?

Advertisers are salivating at what these two networks could offer them — from DoorDash’s delivery network of 993 million total orders, per DoorDash’s Q3 earnings and Instacart’s grocery and fulfillment technology (as well as its 91.4 million orders, per Instacart’s Q3 earnings).

And that’s just the audience.

The joint venture could also mean a single ecosystem with closed-loop data reporting and a scaled ads platform.

“But bigger platforms don’t automatically mean simplicity,” said Bill Wise, CEO and co-founder of Mediaocean, an adtech company. “Brands still have to manage their investments across multiple ecosystems, each with its own data, rules, and measurement.”

However, the two already have separate ad businesses — DoorDash Ads and Instacart Ads — with their own tech offerings. The real test will be how the two delivery platforms will integrate the advertising components of their business without upending how advertisers buy media.  

Scott Paternoster, CEO of performance-marketing agency Chief Media, has been buying ads through Instacart for the last two years and doesn’t expect the media buying process to immediately change.

“I just see it as expanding the footprint of reach and targeting from home delivery to prepared meal home delivery to grocery delivery, and understanding the data and the connections across those two types of audiences and retargeting across them,” Paternoster said. 

How will media buying and pricing change?

U.S. retail media spend is expected to reach nearly $70 billion by the end of this year. Between DoorDash and Instacart’s audience size and potential for closed loop reporting, the case could be made for premium pricing.

Related Insights

Business of AI

Here’s what OpenAI needs to do to reach its billion-dollar ad ambitions Read More

“There’s so much data within this that is actually really valuable for advertisers because it spans like every retailer,” said Briana Finelli, vp of brand and commerce media at Goodway Group.

What CPMs could will be is unknown, but advertisers are cautious to earmark ad dollars in advance given new ad programs can take a bit of time to get off the ground. Case in point: OpenAI’s ads in ChatGPT.

How will DoorDash and Instacart’s offering compare to Walmart or Amazon?

Walmart and Amazon are expected to hoover up more than 89% of the incremental ad dollars spent in retail media this year, per eMarketer. The deal between DoorDash and Instacart could help the two delivery companies cut into that spend.

Both DoorDash and Instacart are billion-dollar businesses independently, per reporting from AdExchanger. Walmart’s global ad business pulled in nearly $6.4 billion last year, per its earnings. Those figures, however, pale in comparison to the $21.3 billion Amazon made in Q4 of 2025 alone. 

“Amazon and Walmart already have a substantial head start, and the longer it takes to capitalize on that combined data, the wider that gap could become,” said Hengel. 

For smaller RMNs, they’ll have more to prove to capture more ad spend. 

“Either the ability to prove value in the media itself through transaction level performance data, or the ability to unify and connect their audiences to a larger scale ecosystem, is going to be more important in the coming years,” said Greg Carlucci, senior director analyst at Gartner. 

Is the DoorDash-Instacart deal the start of retail media consolidation?

Media buyers and industry analysts seem confident that this deal represents the first major step in retail media consolidation. Increasingly, advertisers are scrutinizing their media spend. For retailers to compete for ad dollars, consolidation can help build up scale, technology and inventory offerings. 

“This acquisition is an example point of the importance of scale and measurement that is in commerce media right now,” Carlucci said.

The deal puts an additional spotlight on how RMNs will win over ad dollars. In this instance, the reach will be across “grocery, restaurants, and retail,” said Lidiane Jones, CEO of Integral Ad Science (IAS).

Can the combined company deliver independent, credible measurement?

Measurement and incrementality is something the retail media segments have long since grappled with. The acquisition may mean advertisers have access to more data, but access doesn’t guarantee better measurement.

Notably, DoorDash in September received the Alliance for Audited Media’s (AAM) Incrementality Certification, which is an independent auditing program that verifies whether a platform’s incrementality measurement approach aligns with industry standards. Meanwhile, Instacart has partnered with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to study measurement in addition to its Media Rating Council accreditation that goes back to 2024. 

Still, the industry has yet to settle on a standard definition of incrementality, making it hard to prove even with more data. Meaning, independent verification to ensure retailers aren’t grading their own homework still matters.

“As the category grows, it will be important to pair that scale with consistent, independent evidence of media quality and business outcomes,” said Jones. “The platforms that make that connection will be better positioned to earn sustained investment.”