In the ever-changing world of digital grocers, a silent battle is being waged — not over what's in the cart, but rather who controls it.
With Instacart's acquisition of Wynshop, the dynamic of data ownership and platform power are shifting, says Rodrigo Dellacqua, co-founder of VTEX and executive vice president of grocery. Dellacqua likens it to “moving out of your overbearing parents' house only to discover your landlord is your mom and she's charging you for the Wi-Fi.”
To Dellacqua, this isn't just strategy; it's a media land grab. The real play is ad revenue, customer data and control, he says, adding that grocers aren't the customer anymore — they're the product.
With VTEX data showing 56% of consumers increased grocery spending last year, with Gen Z leading at 66%, Dellacqua says it's happening at a pivotal time. Only 2% stopped buying groceries, proving just how essential and vulnerable this category is.
The growing role of retail media in grocery appears to be shifting control from grocer to platform, and Dellacqua says it's a critical moment.
The Packer: Why do you say Instacart's acquisition of Wynshop feels like a betrayal to grocers?
Dellacqua: The way that I see it, more and more grocery purchases are shifting to platforms like Instacart, DoorDash or Uber Eats. And these platforms promise convenience, right? But they also take a fair share of the ownership of very specific layers, such as checkout data, even advertising space — and when that happens, grocers are losing touch with their customers.
If retailing is a business about building loyalty, you're not building loyalty anymore, you're renting it. And the reality is that speed alone isn't a strategy, it's a table stake. Now, data is the engine for most of that, but if grocers can't access their insights just because it's locked up in a third-party app, they're always going to be a step behind.
[Most people would say] that the store experience is what sets grocers apart. If you remove that, then what is left? That is exactly what Instacart does, and they undermine the grocer's ability to differentiate themselves, to build brand loyalty, all in favor of Instacart, which by the way, [data shows] 37% of customers would not leave Instacart even if their favorite grocer did at the end of the day.
Grocers shouldn't be invisible in their own supply chain. They should be the ones driving the experience and then the loyalty. If they are not driving the experience, they are inventory.
As far as grocers in particular, do you have data specific to how they're reacting to this shift, especially those who adopted Wynshop to avoid Instacart?
Yes. What we're seeing in the market is that everyone has their eyebrows raised, looking at what is happening right now, especially with the sudden announcement that the CEO of Instacart is leaving. That leaves grocers guessing what's next.
I remember back in 2021, when Instacart decided that they would operate a few distribution centers throughout the United States, and that created a major friction with grocers. So, you see this aggregation playbook being played step by step, leaning more and more into a retail experience. In the end, if that's the case, if they continue to take on aggregation strategies like they're doing so far, there will come a moment where they'll be better prepared, better funded — and they will basically understand all the customer behavior and all the customers.
It's an easy step forward, and many large players have gone in that very similar direction. So, with seeing players like even Amazon itself being the ones that started as the aggregator, which is the playbook for Instacart, and then more and more they start growing into being the actual retailer, bypassing all the middlemen, going directly to the industry and eventually even becoming the industry itself.
Your data shows grocery spending is increasing, especially among Gen Z. How should grocers leverage that without giving up control?
That's great question, especially regarding Gen Z. Gen Z has a different behavior [than other shoppers]. We have to take a step back and look where is Gen Z mostly located. You would see that Gen Z grocery ordering happens mostly online and mostly during a commute.
Human beings like routine. And if Instacart is their routine today, which means that Instacart will probably be their routine in the future, then Gen Z, [I would say], is a prime example of where Instacart is leaning down into future generations, and that can create a very serious risk for grocers going forward.