Amazon vs DoorDash

Amazon Raises Minimum Starting Pay to $20/hour and Launches New Benefits

Amazon raises minimum starting pay for full-time core operations employees to $20/hour, with average pay reaching nearly $24/hour, and launches grocery discount and access to new lifetime banking benefits to make everyday life more affordable.

Amazon Raises Minimum Starting Pay for Full-Time Core Operations Employees to $20/Hour

Amazon raises minimum starting pay for full-time core operations employees to $20/hour, with average pay reaching nearly $24/hour, and launches grocery discount and access to new lifetime banking benefits to make everyday life more affordable.

Amazon's Training Initiative: What's Behind It?

Amazon offers employees in logistics and customer service a personal training budget of €4,500, aimed at career changers and those without formal qualifications. Courses include languages, truck driving licenses, mechatronics, IT, HR, environmental technology, and accounting, delivered with partners like Berlitz Germany and Dekra Akademie. In 2026, Amazon invested over €30 million in such programs across Europe, with substantial spending in Germany, its second-largest European workforce after the UK.

• Amazon provides a €4,500 annual training budget to logistics and customer service employees.
• Programs are open to career changers and individuals without formal qualifications.
• Training includes languages, truck driving licenses, mechatronics, IT, HR, environmental tech, and accounting.

Retail Media Must Prove Incrementality for Broader Budgets

Retail media is maturing beyond its role as a performance channel for capturing existing demand. At Ascendant Network's inaugural SHOWCASE upfront, the industry discussed the need for retail media to create demand, not just capture it. Key themes included the shift from closed-loop attribution to incrementality measurement, and the need for standardized metrics across commerce media networks to allow advertisers to compare performance. DoorDash Ads highlighted a partnership with Circana showing that 56% of its buyers were net-new customers for a major beverage brand. DoorDash also earned certification from the Alliance for Audited Media for its incrementality measurement, underscoring the push for independent validation and accountability to compete for broader marketing budgets.

• Ascendant Network held its inaugural Retail + Commerce Media Upfront called SHOWCASE in September 2026.
• DoorDash collaborated with Circana to measure incremental in-store sales driven by advertising.
• 56% of buyers reached through DoorDash were net-new customers for a major beverage brand.

DoorDash Invests $425M in Wonder for Campus Dining

DoorDash is investing $425 million in Marc Lore's food tech company Wonder, acquiring its Grubhub Campus Dining business for $300 million and adding $125 million to Wonder's Series D round. The partnership aims to expand Wonder's campus dining to stadiums and hotels, while Wonder continues building its food empire with 157 locations and plans for Texas in 2027. Wonder's long-term goal is an autonomous food system for personalized meal production.

• DoorDash acquires Wonder's Grubhub Campus Dining for $300 million.
• DoorDash adds $125 million to Wonder's $650 million Series D round.
• Wonder's series D round valued at $9 billion pre-money.