This is the sixth post of a 10-part series: The Marketplace Trap. If you just landed here, the first post is the right place to start.
When a grocer says, “Instacart is a great partner,” I don’t disagree. Marketplaces have accelerated digital adoption, expanded coverage, and removed the capital pain from building last-mile infrastructure. During the chaos of peak demand and labor volatility, they were a genuine lifeline for many.
But I still ask it:
Who owns the search algorithm?
Search isn’t a UX feature. It’s the control layer of the entire operation.
It determines which SKUs surface first. Which brands get visibility. Which sponsored placements win. Which substitutions get accepted when something’s out of stock.
That’s not passive discovery. That’s a decision architecture executed thousands of times a day. Not by you.
Over time, it stops shaping the basket. It starts shaping your customers’ preferences.
Whoever controls search controls margin mix. Silently.
This isn’t an Instacart hit piece. Platforms drive incremental demand, extend geographic reach, and simplify logistics for operators working on paper-thin margins. That value is real.
But platforms also create dependency. That part is also real.
If your highest-value households start their grocery journey inside a marketplace, you have a problem. It just doesn't look like one yet. First you lose the data. Then the retail media revenue. Then the negotiating power. By the time you notice, you've already given it all away.
Digital growth isn't the same as digital strength. Confusing the two is how you end up building someone else's business.
If discovery happens off your platform, you’re losing retail media revenue. If your behavioral data lives on their servers, you're growing revenue while losing control.
Partnerships aren't the problem. Dependency is.
There’s a difference between choosing a partner from a position of clarity and waking up five years later to realize they now own the most profitable part of your customer relationships.
Search shapes the basket. The basket shapes the margin. Margin shapes who wins.
So here's what I'd ask every grocery executive about to sign a marketplace renewal:
If Instacart disappeared tomorrow, would your customers come back, or just find someone new?
The Marketplace Trap is a 10-part series on why mid-tier grocers are handing customer ownership to platforms, and what they can do to take it back.
The full series: