Grocery delivery intermediary Instacart has partnered with C&S – a leading wholesale grocery supply company in the US – to offer Instacart’s delivery services to over 3,000 independent grocery retailers across the US. As independent grocers move onto the platform, Instacart personal shoppers will pick and fulfill customer orders from these stores.
Delivery intermediaries are becoming particularly important partners for small independent retailers who typically don’t have the resources or capabilities to sell online, with the potential to boost ecommerce penetration across the grocery sector further. The partnership, alongside other recent agreements, supports Instacart’s growing significance in US grocery. Reports show order volumes on its platform were increasing by 500% year-on-year and app downloads were up 218% month-on-month in March.
As an early pilot partner to Instacart’s new advertising capabilities, Flywheel by Ascential views Instacart’s growing brick-and-mortar presence as a structural advantage, allowing it to pick fresh groceries across more zip codes than Amazon Prime Now and Amazon Fresh, illustrated above. With Instacart now launching a self-serve ad platform, this is the time to build capabilities with a focus on digital shelf execution, pricing and promotions, understanding as well the variances that can occur between in-store and platform prices. For suppliers, all elements must come together to drive brand visibility and conversion.
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get more retail and ecommerce insights delivered to your inbox.
