Second Measure: DoorDash led the 2019 US food delivery market with 33% of total sales, followed by GrubHub with 32%, Uber Eats with 20%, and Postmates with 10%
Context & Ripple Effects
Second Measure's full-year tally confirms what its May snapshot first showed: after overtaking Grubhub in monthly sales mid-2019, DoorDash held the lead across the whole year, edging GrubHub 33% to 32% with Uber Eats at 20% and Postmates at 10%. The one-point margin matters because GrubHub had been the category's default leader before 2019.
The tail of the ranking is where the story moves next: Postmates had already been in acquisition talks with DoorDash, Walmart, Uber and others while weighing a delayed IPO, and six months later Uber bought it for $2.65B in stock — a direct response to the share table this data lays out.
First-order effects
- GrubHub formally cedes the US #1 position it held entering 2019, now trailing DoorDash by a single point of total sales, while Uber Eats sits at just 20% domestically despite its larger global footprint.
- Postmates' 10% share confirms it as a distant fourth, hardening the case for selling rather than pursuing its much-delayed IPO.
Second-order effects
- Uber's $2.65B all-stock purchase of Postmates pools roughly 30% of US sales (20% + 10%), creating the first credible challenger to DoorDash's lead and forcing GrubHub to defend a shrinking middle position.
- With four national players compressing toward three, restaurant commission bargaining power shifts further toward whichever platform can promise the most delivery volume.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, US food delivery structurally consolidates into a two-platform race between DoorDash and Uber, with subscale independents either acquired or confined to regional niches.
The trend: US food delivery is consolidating from a four-way land grab into a scale-driven contest between DoorDash and Uber, with share data itself accelerating the M&A that reshapes the field.