Introducing Instacart Meals, a New Product for Grocers & Consumers

Ordering a premade meal alongside groceries and household essentials has never been easier with the introduction of Instacart Meals — our new grocery meals product that powers easy ordering, delivery and pickup of made-to-order food in as fast as an hour.

We know that when customers grocery shop, they’re thinking about both the food they need for the week in addition to what’s for dinner that night. We see the highest volume of orders placed on the Instacart marketplace between 2 and 4pm and at less than half the price of an average fast-casual food order, made-to-order grocery meals offer access to a fresh, easy and more affordable option when life is hectic and dinner is soon.

As a first step, we’ve collaborated with Publix to introduce Instacart Meals with a new digital deli counter including the always popular Publix subs. The product will roll out to Publix locations across Florida in the coming weeks and to nearly all Publix stores across the Southeast in the months ahead.

The new product makes the online ordering experience easier than ever by introducing a number of new features, including:

• Digital Deli Counter — Just like shopping in-store, customers can design the perfect made-to-order meal using the “Build your Own” functionality within the online storefront. Extra Cheese? No Mayo? As part of our Publix collaboration, customers can now build their own sub from endless configurable combinations by choosing from a variety of breads, meats, cheeses, veggies and condiments using a streamlined user interface.
• Counter Integration — Instacart Meals plugs directly into our retail partner’s ordering system, allowing store employees to receive orders through their existing and familiar system and begin preparing right away. Instacart shoppers can then simply swing by the counter and pick up any items, driving down wait times in-store and making it easier for customers to get the exact made-to-order item they want as part of their shop.
• Intuitive Timing — Meals works hand-in-hand with order management systems to generate precise preparation and counter pickup windows at the end of the Instacart shopper’s shopping route. This ensures that the customer’s sandwich gets from the store to their door as fresh as possible.
• Smart Cart Combos — When a customer adds a made-to-order meal to their cart, the Instacart Meals product automatically offers all applicable combo options and discounts, enabling folks to capitalize on deals and savings just as they would in the store.

Instacart Meals comes on the heels of a number of recent product expansions including an enhanced Instacart Pickup product, the continued expansion of our alcohol delivery offering and our prescription delivery pilot with Costco in select states.

Today, we partner with more than 350 beloved national, regional and local retailers to offer delivery from more than 25,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Instacart is currently available to more than 85% of households in the U.S. and more than 70% of households in Canada.

Instacart

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.