DoorDash adds 1,000+ Canadian stores

DoorDash said on April 27 that it is adding more than 1,000 Empire Company stores across all 10 Canadian provinces to its marketplace. (doordash.com) The new partnership brings 12 Empire banners onto DoorDash, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, FreshCo, Farm Boy and Longo’s. The offering also includes convenience and alcohol banners such as Needs, Boni-Soir and Voisin. (doordash.com) (finance.yahoo.com) DoorDash called it one of its largest grocery expansions in Canada. The company said grocery is one of its fastest-growing categories in the country. (doordash.com) (markets.ft.com) The move widens a strategy that has pushed DoorDash beyond restaurant meals into supermarket orders and household staples. Retail TouchPoints reported that, with Empire added, DoorDash now works with four of Canada’s five largest grocery companies by reported sales. (retailtouchpoints.com) For Empire, the DoorDash launch follows a January 28 e-commerce update that said the grocer was expanding third-party delivery partnerships and expected about C$95 million in annualized operating-income benefits. Empire also said then that it would rationalize some e-commerce assets and take a roughly C$750 million write-down in fiscal 2026’s third quarter. (empireco.ca) That January update also showed Empire leaning harder on outside delivery platforms. Empire had already expanded with Instacart and Uber Eats in Ontario in 2024, with a broader Canadian rollout to follow. (empireco.ca 1) (empireco.ca 2) The latest deal gives DoorDash more order density in grocery, a category with larger baskets and more frequent repeat purchases than restaurant delivery. Supermarket News said DoorDash also announced new regional grocery partnerships in the United States this week, including FreshDirect. (supermarketnews.com) The Canadian expansion also gives Empire another way to put its banners in front of customers who start shopping inside a marketplace app instead of a grocer’s own website. That shifts more discovery, ordering and delivery to third-party platforms that now sit between retailers and consumers. (empireco.ca) (retailtechinnovationhub.com) For shoppers, the immediate change is simple: more Empire stores now appear inside DoorDash across Canada. For DoorDash and Empire, the announcement shows how grocery delivery is becoming a platform business, not just a store service. (doordash.com) (retailtouchpoints.com)