Costco Hands Off Delivery as Kroger Bets on AI

Welcome to another edition of Retail Roundup. This is your weekly brief helping retail leaders decode the biggest shifts in retail, AI, and commerce.

In this special in-person edition, recorded live at Groceryshop, Jeremy Goldman sits down with Michelle Evans (Euromonitor International), Andrea Leigh (Allume Group), and Virginia Marsh (Fluent) to unpack the biggest grocery stories breaking both on and off the show floor this week.

Instacart's B2B Pivot Signals Delivery Is Becoming a Commodity

Instacart just added Gopuff for 15-minute delivery, expanded its Dollar General deal, and rolled out real-time shelf-mapping software. With order growth slowing and delivery turning into a commodity, Instacart is building its moat elsewhere: enterprise data and an AI assistant, Clementine, widely regarded as the best in the category.

Kroger's AI Assistant Is Already Producing Bigger Baskets

Kroger EVP and CIO Yael Cosset announced on the Groceryshop stage that the company's new AI shopping assistant is driving bigger baskets. However, higher spend may reflect already-engaged super-users, not the AI itself. Even so, a well-timed recommendation can genuinely remind someone what they forgot, adding real value, even if the causation isn't proven yet.

Costco Opens Its Doors to DoorDash and Uber Eats

Uber Eats has expanded Costco delivery from 17 states to 47, and DoorDash now delivers from every US Costco warehouse. Handing off fulfillment to third parties sits awkwardly with a membership model built around owning the customer relationship, and risks quietly devaluing the membership itself.

Diesel Prices Are Becoming Grocery's Next Inflation Threat

US diesel prices have surged past $6.50 a gallon, up 77% year over year, with inventories at their lowest level since 1982. Retailers who can consolidate deliveries and build density into their truck routes may weather this better than most. Fuel surcharges might be a more palatable way to pass costs to shoppers than a straight price hike.

Listen above for the full conversation, plus this week's WTF stories: an AI-referral ranking gap so large one pantry brand outperforms its actual sales rank by 23x, and the Converse ad that reminded everyone why you should show your creative to more than one set of eyes before it airs.