Quick Take — Uber is set to acquire Delivery Hero in a deal worth $14.8 billion

Uber Technologies Inc. has entered into a ‘business combination’ agreement with Delivery Hero SE, a global local delivery platform, which will enable the company to compete with DoorDash and Just Eat (Prosus) through a mobility and delivery platform covering 99 markets, with customer orders totalling $236 billion ( *) last year, the company said on Thursday.

Uber, which already holds a stake in Delivery Hero, would pay $13.7 billion under the deal, valuing Delivery Hero at $14.8 billion, the company said.

The move doubles the number of markets for Uber’s mobility and delivery services from 34 to 58…

The deal is expected to be finalised by 2027.

(*) on which the company, as with its marketplaces, receives a percentage.

Quick Take — Alibaba reports continued profit compression due to investments in artificial intelligence and instant retail (Quick e-commerce)

Alibaba reported a 3 per cent increase in revenue for the quarter ending 31 March, which fell short of expectations due to a slowdown in the company’s international e-commerce business (Total revenue stood at 243.38 billion yuan for the quarter, or €30.6 billion)

Cloud Intelligence revenues increased by 38%, with artificial intelligence products now accounting for 30% of external cloud revenues. Earlier this year, the company separated its artificial intelligence business from its cloud computing division.

Alibaba said adjusted EBITDA fell 84 per cent due to spending on technology and fast-track commerce, which involves deliveries within 60 minutes. Reuters

There has long been an e-commerce and delivery war going on in China, which, like in the US, has the same customers.

Quick Take — Sam’s Club (Walmart): ‘At Sam’s Club we do not consider e-commerce as a separate channel’

It is a division of the Walmart Group, which had a turnover of $92.6 billion in 2024 “Sam’s” is named after its founder, Sam Walton.

E-commerce is growing by 23% (and for Walmart it weighs $150 billion) and as we see from this excerpt, the giant now delivers (ready-to-eat) food, competing with DoorDash, UberEats etc.: …almost two-thirds of Sam’s e-commerce business is now handled directly by shops, which, as [Greg ] Pulsifer (senior VP of Sam’s) acknowledges, is “the textbook definition of an omnichannel company”.

About 70 per cent of the retailer’s members also sign up online… Last month, Sam’s Club launched its Express delivery service, which promises delivery of orders within an hour

Another noteworthy innovation in e-commerce is Sam’s Club’s entry into the pizza delivery business, which began exactly one year ago. “I think the interesting thing is that the history of pizza started with roast chicken,” Pulsifer reflects. “Roast chicken was one of the most popular products for in-store pick-up and we wanted to find a way to make it available for home delivery as well, which was a challenging problem to solve.” Sam’s Club now delivers more than 22,000 pizzas per week and uses artificial intelligence to predict the busiest days for deliveries to anticipate customer demand…

Progressive Grocer