DoorDash and Uber Expand Costco Delivery Challenging Instacart
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What happened
Costco will offer delivery across the United States through DoorDash, marking the first time DoorDash has offered Costco delivery nationwide and expanding a partnership that previously operated in Puerto Rico and in international markets including Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and Iceland. Members can choose from more than 4,000 Costco products on DoorDash and must link their Costco membership to a DoorDash account. One day earlier, Costco expanded its Uber Eats partnership from 17 states to 47 states, covering nearly 600 warehouses, after the companies first teamed up in the United States in 2024. Instacart has delivered Costco goods since 2017. Uber is offering eligible Costco members 50 percent off a first-year Uber One membership and 20 percent off in later years, $100 Uber and Uber Eats gift cards sold for $79.99 at participating Costco locations and online for a limited time, and 30 percent off a first eligible Costco order for consumers who buy a Costco membership through Uber Eats.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 2 articles
2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 2
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Tony Xu, Dara Khosrowshahi, Emily Reuter, Costco, DoorDash and Uber
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
- Credits another outlet 0 of 2
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 2
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 17, 16:58 UTC by Business Insider, naming its source.
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage treats DoorDash and Uber's Costco expansion as a threat to Instacart without reporting the shopper terms that make the challenge real. Right-leaning coverage leads with those terms and gives Instacart only a passing mention. The 50 percent first-year cut on Uber's membership plan is in the New York Post and missing from Business Insider, which also skips the discounted gift cards sold at Costco.
Left-leaning coverage opens on a "battle brewing" over who delivers Costco. Right-leaning coverage opens on bulk groceries and Kirkland goods arriving at the door. One side leads with a platform fight. The other leads with member convenience.
None of the coverage says whether prices and delivery fees on the apps match what members pay walking into a warehouse.
Bottom line
Read Business Insider and Costco on DoorDash and Uber is a warning to Instacart, with no mention of Uber's 50 percent first-year membership discount. Read the New York Post and it is a member perk package that barely treats Instacart as competition.
The receipts — 1 fact one side's coverage lacks
- Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called grocery and other retail sales another trillion-dollar opportunity
The Left View
Business Insider frames the expansions as a competitive threat to Instacart, writing that there is "a battle brewing at Costco" and that the partnerships are DoorDash and Uber Eats' "latest move to expand into the grocery business — and, potentially, eat Instacart's lunch." The outlet cites Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi calling grocery and other retail sales "another trillion-dollar opportunity" and notes that Costco "ranked among the most-searched retailers not yet available on DoorDash." It reports Costco in-store visits were up 18 percent over seven years while visits to Walmart and Target were roughly flat, and that Instacart has a head start, including credits on some orders for Costco executive members that Instacart CFO Emily Reuter said is "continuing to deepen the relationship with Costco."
The Right View
The New York Post presents the news as bringing Costco's bulk groceries, household essentials, electronics, and Kirkland Signature products to members' doors, quoting DoorDash vice president Mike Goldblatt that "Costco members have been asking for Costco on DoorDash" and that pairing Costco's "quality, value and selection" with DoorDash's network gives "more flexibility in how they shop." It quotes Uber president Andrew Macdonald that Uber is "thrilled to expand our partnership with Costco nationwide, giving Costco members more ways to shop" and that the deal "demonstrates the scale and opportunity Uber can bring to retailers looking to meet more of consumers' everyday shopping needs." The outlet also highlights Uber's promotional discounts and describes the push as a significant expansion of Costco's reach beyond its traditional warehouse model that gives DoorDash and Uber Eats "a bigger foothold in the increasingly competitive grocery and retail delivery market."
Our Take (balanced)
The left-leaning account's strongest argument is that DoorDash and Uber are using Costco to invade Instacart's grocery-delivery position, backed by Business Insider's "eat Instacart's lunch" characterization, Khosrowshahi's "trillion-dollar opportunity" remark, and Costco's status as a highly searched retailer that had not been on DoorDash nationwide. The right-leaning account's strongest argument is that the story is primarily about consumer demand and convenience, backed by Goldblatt's claim that members "have been asking for Costco on DoorDash" and Macdonald's emphasis on "more ways to shop" and meeting "everyday shopping needs." The central unresolved tension is whether these partnerships are best understood as a zero-sum platform war over grocery market share or as a consumer-access expansion that incidentally intensifies competition among delivery apps.
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