Maplebear (CART) Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 summary

Key strategic insights

• Emphasizes being a leading grocery technology company, not just a consumer marketplace, with unique retailer integrations and a self-reinforcing platform strategy.

• Highlights operational excellence in both marketplace and enterprise businesses, leveraging data and AI to power growth and maintain a competitive edge.

• Focuses on price parity initiatives with retailers to drive affordability and retention, and ongoing expansion of enterprise offerings and storefronts.

• Advertising and AI are major growth priorities, with 9,000 brands and 310 retailer sites powered, and ambitions to build the best AI grocery assistant.

• International expansion is enterprise-led, leveraging existing tech stack and partnerships like Costco in Spain and France, targeting major markets with anchor partners.

Growth drivers and competitive positioning

• Achieved 14% GTV growth last quarter and guided 11%-13% for the next, with accelerated marketplace growth and durable share gains expected through 2026.

• Strong in both large and small basket orders, with high average order values and deep selection, supported by 2,200 retailers and 100,000 stores.

• Differentiation comes from deep retailer integrations, fast delivery (average 90 minutes), and high order fill rates, making large basket fulfillment a core strength.

• Competitors focus on small fill-in orders, while the company excels in complex, high-value weekly shops, sustaining its leadership.

Technology, AI, and agentic experiences

• Building advanced agentic and AI-powered grocery experiences, aiming for personalized, intelligent shopping assistants using extensive data and in-store signals.

• Plans to integrate AI assistants both on-platform and through partnerships with major AI platforms, while controlling data and ensuring best-in-class experiences.

• Internal productivity gains from GenAI are significant, with 40%-80% higher engineer output and projects completed up to four times faster.

• AI accelerates order quality, fulfillment, retailer onboarding, and international tech deployment, driving company-wide momentum.