Good morning,

A food safety scare is putting one of America's largest produce suppliers under the spotlight.

Taylor Farms, which supplies fresh produce to major retailers and restaurant chains including Walmart, Costco, Whole Foods, McDonald's, and Taco Bell, has been linked to a cyclospora outbreak affecting thousands of people across five states. The company has since recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, marking its latest food safety challenge after its onions were tied to a 2024 E. coli outbreak.

Let’s dive into today’s edition.

For the past few months, we've been speaking directly with small and mid-sized 3PL operators across the United States to understand what it's really like to run a logistics business in today's market.

Through first-hand accounts, conversations with logistics leaders, and extensive research, we've uncovered what's happening to small and mid-sized 3PLs, why some are struggling while others continue to grow, and the strategies helping operators navigate one of the toughest markets in years.

The result is The State of Small & Mid-Sized 3PLs Report 2026.

It will be released in July and will be available to all CrossDock paid members as part of their subscription. If you value original reporting, exclusive research, and deeper insights into the supply chain and logistics industry, consider becoming a CrossDock paid member.

Amazon will increase fulfillment fees across its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Remote Fulfillment, Multi-Channel Fulfillment, and Buy with Prime services during the 2026 holiday season.

Increased Cost: The temporary charges will apply to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Remote Fulfillment, Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF), and Buy with Prime orders shipped between October 15, 2026, and January 14, 2027, with fees increasing by an average of $0.32 per unit. The company's 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge will continue to apply on top of these holiday rates.

Amazon said the surcharge will remain in effect until further notice to offset elevated transportation and logistics costs.

Stock Up Early: To avoid delays during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon is encouraging sellers to move inventory into its fulfillment network before October, warning that warehouse capacity may tighten as facilities prioritize customer orders.

Uber has agreed to acquire Germany's Delivery Hero in a $14.8 billion deal, creating the world's largest food delivery platform outside China. The combined business will operate across 99 countries, with a pro forma gross merchandise value (GMV) of $236 billion in 2025, strengthening Uber's position against rivals such as DoorDash and Just Eat.

What’s the Deal? The offer values Delivery Hero at €41.50 per share, a 34% premium to its three-month average share price. To address potential antitrust concerns, Delivery Hero will sell its operations in 14 markets to investment firm SSW Partners for about €1.4 billion, while its major shareholder, Prosus, will divest its nearly 17% stake.

Big Picture: The acquisition significantly expands Uber Eats' international footprint, increasing its delivery network from 50 to 99 markets and adding approximately 60 million monthly active users. Uber has also committed to investing €2 billion in Germany by 2031 and will retain Delivery Hero's Berlin headquarters and workforce until at least 2029.

The European Union has fined Alibaba's AliExpress €550 million ($629 million) for failing to prevent the sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products on its marketplace—the largest penalty issued so far under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The European Commission said AliExpress did not adequately assess marketplace risks or consistently enforce penalties against repeat offenders.

Background Info: The investigation, launched in 2024, found that products sold through AliExpress failed to meet EU safety and environmental standards. Under the DSA, online platforms with more than 45 million EU users are required to identify and mitigate systemic risks, with violations subject to fines of up to 6% of annual global revenue.

AliExpress has until October 20 to submit a plan outlining how it will address the regulator's concerns.

Third Attack: Alibaba said it disagrees with the decision and called the penalty disproportionate, arguing that it does not reflect the company's recent efforts to strengthen marketplace oversight. The ruling marks the third major DSA enforcement action, following earlier fines against X (€120 million) and Temu (€200 million).

GameStop has increased its ownership in eBay to 9.8%, signaling that it intends to continue pursuing its proposed acquisition despite the online marketplace rejecting its initial offer.

Key Details: According to a regulatory filing, GameStop now owns 43.4 million eBay shares, up from a 5% economic stake disclosed in May after converting derivative positions into common stock.

The company acquired 3.5 million eBay shares in June for roughly $381 million and settled another 39 million shares through put/call derivatives. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen reiterated his determination to pursue the deal, saying the company is "coming for eBay one way or another."

What’s Next: The proposed acquisition would combine two major e-commerce platforms in an effort to compete more directly with Amazon. However, the deal faces significant financing and execution challenges. GameStop's plan relies in part on a non-binding commitment for up to $20 billion in debt, contingent on the combined company achieving an investment-grade credit rating.

Growth in U.S. retail asking rents slowed to its weakest pace in more than a decade during the second quarter of 2026, according to CoStar Group.

Key Details: According to CoStar Group, national asking rents rose 1.6% year over year, marking the slowest annual growth rate in more than a decade. CoStar said the slowdown reflects a return to more normal market conditions rather than weakening retail demand.

Positive Signs: Despite the slowdown, retail real estate fundamentals remain healthy. CoStar said landlords continue to secure significant rent increases when leases are renewed, particularly in high-traffic shopping corridors where available retail space remains limited.

Differing Performance: Performance varied across the country, with several Sun Belt markets continuing to outperform. Phoenix, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Las Vegas posted annual retail rent growth of roughly 3% to 6%, although those markets have also begun to see rent appreciation moderate.

Americans are buying fewer groceries despite continued food inflation, signaling a shift in consumer spending that is reshaping the grocery industry.

What’s Happening? According to Bain & Company's analysis of NielsenIQ data, grocery unit sales fell 1.8% year over year in June, reversing the modest 0.1% growth recorded a year earlier. While grocery prices continue to rise 2% to 3% annually, inflation is no longer enough to offset declining purchase volumes.

However, Grocery prices are now about 33% higher than in 2019, prompting shoppers to cut back on purchases, switch to lower-priced brands, and seek out discounts.

Big Picture: The shift is forcing retailers and consumer goods companies to compete more aggressively on value. Walmart and Kroger have expanded promotions and lowered prices on staple grocery items, while PepsiCo reported weaker North American food demand and increased promotional activity during the second quarter.

DoorDash has launched a direct integration with Shopify, allowing independent U.S. retailers to list their products on the DoorDash marketplace directly from their existing Shopify dashboard.

Key Details: Available through the Shopify App Store, the integration eliminates separate onboarding, manual catalog uploads, and operational changes, enabling merchants to start selling in just a few days instead of several weeks.

The integration automatically syncs product catalogs and inventory between Shopify and DoorDash, ensuring listings reflect real-time stock levels without duplicate data entry. DoorDash said the offering is designed for independent retailers across categories such as gift shops, sporting goods stores, and specialty food businesses.

Big Picture: The rollout begins in the United States, with international expansion planned in the coming months. The launch builds on DoorDash's broader retail strategy, following its recent partnership with Empire Company to add more than 1,000 grocery and convenience stores across Canada to its marketplace

Walmart and Amazon have each captured more than 10% of total U.S. retail sales for the first time, marking a major milestone in the ongoing consolidation of the U.S. retail market, according to Coresight Research.

Leading Numbers: Walmart led with an 11.08% market share in 2025, while Amazon reached 10.34%, up from 8.35% in 2021.

Best and Rest: The gap between the two retail giants and the rest of the market continues to widen. Costco ranked third with 3.82% of U.S. retail sales, followed by The Home Depot (2.90%) and Kroger (2.82%). Coresight attributed Costco's resilience to its membership model and disciplined product assortment, while noting that many mid-tier retailers continue to lose share.

What’s Next: The report also found that off-price and discount retailers remain among the fastest-growing segments. TJX Companies, Burlington Stores, and Ross Stores are expected to open more than 300 U.S. stores this year and collectively surpass $100 billion in global sales for the first time in 2026.

Instacart has acquired Arpalus, an AI-powered shelf-scanning startup, to strengthen its in-store inventory visibility and improve online grocery order fulfillment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Key Details: Arpalus' computer vision technology allows store workers to scan shelves using a smartphone, providing real-time inventory data and helping reduce out-of-stock errors.

Instacart said Arpalus' system identifies products on shelves with an average accuracy of 95%, even in challenging retail environments with crowded shelves, inconsistent lighting, and weak connectivity.

The company plans to combine this data with information collected by its network of approximately 600,000 shoppers, who visit stores more than 15 times per day on average and generate over 10 million inventory data points daily.

Big Picture: The acquisition supports Instacart's broader AI strategy to improve inventory accuracy, customer satisfaction, and retailer insights. Arpalus' technology will also be integrated into Instacart's Caper Cart smart shopping carts, enabling cameras on the carts to capture additional shelf data.