Instacarts

Instacart is adding generative AI to its search experience. Called Ask Instacart, the new search feature is designed to help answer shoppers’ grocery-related questions and give a boost to sponsored product campaigns. How it works. Just like with Google and Microsoft Bing, Instacart users will be able to search via natural language queries and get personalized recommendations. For example: “What kind of side dishes should I serve with lamb chops?” “What are dairy-free snacks…

Instacart made $740 million in ad revenue in 2022, a 30% increase over 2021. Surging ad business. The Information reported: “The grocery-delivery firm’s ad revenue totaled about $740 million last year, up 30% from 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter. That’s a striking increase, given that the digital ad market was largely stagnant last year. Nearly 30% of Instacart’s 2022 revenue came from selling advertising rather than actually delivering groceries.” Ads accounted for about 20% of…

Instacart Inc. generated sharply higher sales and profit in the fourth quarter, according to people familiar with the matter and an internal memo, as the company prepares for its highly anticipated initial public offering of stock.The grocery-delivery company told employees on Tuesday that its revenue increased more than 50% in the fourth quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier, while gross profit rose more than 80%, according to a memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Instacart’s full-year revenue…

After introducing , Instacart will now allow you to order large items from retailers. The company’s new service, aptly named “Big & Bulky,” promises same-day and scheduled delivery of products like outdoor furniture, office supplies and home electronics. As of today, a handful of retailers, including Mastermind Toys, Office Depot and Staples, are participating in the program nationally. If you already use Instacart to buy groceries, you can order large items at the same time as buying food for the week. The company…

A year ago, Instacart co-founder Apoorva Mehta left his role as chief executive of the grocery delivery unicorn and took on an executive chairman position. Now, as the company he started nearly a decade ago prepares to IPO, Mehta says that he will be stepping down as executive chairman and transitioning off the board of directors once the company goes public. “Since I transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman a year ago, I realized that I want to pursue a new mission and I want to do it with the same singular focus…

Delivery service Instacart is rolling out a new Uber Pro-like incentive program for its shoppers called Cart Star. Cart Star’s tiered incentives are available in three categories: gold (for 200 points); platinum (for 1,000 points); and diamond (for 2,000 points). Shoppers earn points based on the number of orders they complete in the preceding three-month span. To maintain their place in the program, shoppers must keep an average customer rating of 4.7. The company’s highest diamond tier offers more exclusive…

You just can’t please some people, and Instacart’s new rating system for shoppers acknowledges that. It now automatically filters out ratings from hard-to-please customers who frequently rate their shoppers lower than five stars. Instacart says the new system is designed to promote a “fair experience” for the shoppers tasked with delivering groceries to users’ homes. Last month, Instacart promised to protect workers from the other type of assholes who bait drivers with large tips and then yank it from them when their…