Instacart

(NASDAQ: CART · $47.83 ▲ 0.1%) Instacart is a grocery technology company that runs an online marketplace where consumers order groceries for delivery or pickup from local and chain stores across the U.S. and Canada. The company partners with more than 2,200 retail banners, representing nearly 100,000 stores, and it serves 14,000 cities with a catalog of 1 billion products. In this kind of marketplace model, retailers typically keep the store and inventory while the platform supplies the ordering interface and the labor for picking and delivery, letting grocers offer ecommerce without building their own fulfillment networks.

On the consumer side, personal shoppers pick items in store, chat with customers during the shop, follow replacement preferences for out-of-stock items and deliver same-day, with curbside pickup available at select locations. The shopper role is positioned as a source of flexible earning opportunities, a gig-style arrangement common across on-demand delivery services. Ordering requires no membership, even from warehouse clubs such as Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club, while an optional Instacart+ membership offers $0 delivery fees on eligible orders. Retail partners set item prices on the marketplace, which may differ from in-store prices, and each retailer's pricing policy can be viewed in the Instacart app and on its website.

Across the Instacart Marketplace, Instacart Enterprise platform and Instacart Ads ecosystem, the company powers ecommerce, fulfillment, in-store technology, AI offerings and advertising for partners. Pairing a consumer marketplace with partner technology and advertising reflects the wider rise of retail media, in which commerce platforms sell ad placements to consumer brands alongside handling orders. Through Instacart Health, the company also provides tools aimed at increasing nutrition security, making healthy choices easier for consumers and expanding the role food can play in improving health outcomes.