While it’s hard to avoid shopping at national chains for at least some groceries, consumers also ride hard for their local and regional grocers (any fellow New England Market Basket fans in the house?).

Fuad Hannon, VP of new verticals at DoorDash, believes this retail segment has been “overlooked” by other delivery platforms, while for DoorDash, it’s been a core focus area.

Last month, the company introduced a slew of new local grocer partnerships, adding to its marketplace of 500,000 local merchants: 11 locations of Minneapolis-St. Paul area grocer Kowalski’s; nine locations of California’s Mar-Val Food Stores; seven Geissler’s stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts; and six Miliam’s Markets locations in Miami-Dade. DoorDash also added grocery delivery at Wegmans across five states. This comes after the company onboarded eight local and regional grocery chains late last year.

DoorDash has had roots in local commerce through restaurant delivery since its founding in 2013, and now, as it continually evolves into a delivery company servicing all retail formats, grocery has played a huge role. The company has 7 million consumers buying groceries on the platform, and while it’s partnered with six of the top 10 grocers in the country, it’s also zeroing in on smaller partners.

Keep reading here.—EC

Out of toilet paper? For a few days there, you might have had a hard time finding some at a store.

Consumers panic-bought toilet paper and other goods at retailers like Costco and Walmart after the dockworkers strike last month. While the strike lasted only three days, it threw yet another curveball at brands that ship goods and import items from overseas for production ahead of what is projected to be a busy holiday season.

Even before the shutdown, supply chains and delivery infrastructure had already been facing increasing pressure, thanks to everything from geopolitical tensions to an influx of packages from Shein and Temu. And that’s not the only challenge brands are grappling with.

Keep reading here.—JS

It’s Veteran’s Day, and after picking up their free doughnut at Dunkin’, former and active duty service members can enjoy a number of deals from major retailers. IKEA, Amazon, and Kohl’s, to name just a few, are offering 15%, 20%, and 30% discounts respectively on select items.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In deals: Walmart is getting a head start on its Black Friday sales with exclusive deals for its Walmart+ members starting at 5pm ET on Monday. These deals will be available for all customers and stores on Friday. The deal days are one of three events staggered throughout the month of November and culminating Black Friday weekend.

Keep reading here.—AV