Instacart reportedly discussed selling itself with DoorDash and Uber
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What's this about?
Instacart might sell itself to a larger competitor.
The one-panel cartoon
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A spacious kitchen pantry with multiple shelves, filled with various groceries. A young person in a Instacart uniform is standing awkwardly in the middle, holding a phone with Uber and DoorDash logos on the screen.
Caption: Looks like we're just another app icon now.
Read the full 3-panel strip
Based on the original story on techcrunch.com.
Editor's note
As the gig economy's infrastructure groans under the weight of its own hyper-competition, the potential consolidation of Instacart suggests that even the most agile services can't escape the gravitational pull of larger, more resource-rich platforms. It's a quiet admission that, in the long run, survival may mean merging with the very entities you once competed against.
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Panel 1
(a) What the subject is and does: Instacart is a grocery delivery service that connects shoppers to customers who need groceries delivered to their homes. It competes with other delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats. (b) The real irony or absurdity: The irony lies in a delivery service potentially selling itself to another delivery service, which suggests a shift in power dynamics within the same industry. (c) The funniest observation: The highlight comes from the realization that Instacart might be trying to merge with its competitors to avoid being outpaced or swallowed up by a larger entity like Amazon. ---
Panel 2
*Inside a busy Instacart warehouse. Workers hurry past grocery carts filled with goods. In the corner, a board room door is slightly ajar, and we can see two executives huddled around a laptop screen.* Executive 1 (Looking at the screen)
Executive 1: It's like, if you're a fish in a small pond, you either swim with the big sharks, or you get eaten.
Executive 2: Yeah, but merging with DoorDash or Uber is like joining a shark tank.
Panel 3
*The scene shifts to an executive meeting room. A large map of the United States is on the wall with Instacart’s delivery zones highlighted. DoorDash and Uber Eats are marked on a separate chart nearby. The executives stand around a table with laptops open.*
Executive 1: We need to look at every option. DoorDash and Uber are bigger players now.
Executive 2: But merging with them... it's like asking to be the new fish in the shark tank.
Panel 4
*In a smaller side office, an employee is frantically typing away on a laptop. A framed Instacart logo hangs on the wall, but it looks slightly tilted as if it’s about to fall off.* Executive 1 (Sighs) Employee (Pauses, looks at the Instacart logo and back to the executive)
Employee: If we merge, will I still get Instacart-branded water bottles?
Executive 1: I'm not sure. But if you're lucky, maybe you'll get a new one with the new company's logo.
Employee: That might be even more fishy.
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