Instacart Inc. appointed Snowflake Inc. Chief Executive Officer Frank Slootman to its board of directors, another sign the grocery delivery startup is getting serious about going public.

"With an IPO almost guaranteed this year, I wanted to look back at how Instacart has gone from niche to necessity and question whether it can maintain this dominant position in a highly competitive, highly sought-after market post-COVID."

Grocer Box, a service specialized in building custom designed and branded online stores for independent grocers, integrated with city-wide delivery and marketing management, is announcing its partnership with Eataly Toronto, the Canadian flagship of the immersive Italian marketplace.

Using AI technology, the Bother Brain™ pre-empts the quantities a customer needs and how frequently. Bother then delivers boxes with a free next day service, no substitutions and no need to book a delivery slot.

Gorillas has spent several months expanding rapidly across Germany.

Rakuten Inc. plans to raise 242 billion yen ($2.2 billion) by selling shares to investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd., Walmart Inc. and Japan Post Holdings Co., bankrolling expansions into AI, finance and mobile.

The entry of conglomerates such as Tata Sons Ltd and Reliance Retail Ltd and e-commerce majors sharpening focus on India’s burgeoning e-grocery sector is creating a multi-player field catering to different customer segments with unique business models beyond the large cities.

As restaurants have struggled during the pandemic, more people are eating at home. That, of course, boosts grocery-anchored retail. Branch Properties, which has been in the grocery-anchored retail space for 43 years, has seen sales growth across its stores during the pandemic.